Archive for the ‘Drugs & Treatments’ Category
Stem Cell Surgical Therapy results create Optimistic View of Macular Degeneration
01.30.2012
Two women who were considered legally blind had their vision partly restored after receiving stem cell therapy. One of the women had the dry form of age-related macular degeneration and the other woman had a rare disease that causes vision loss. Both of the women received an injection of cells derived from human embryonic stem cells in one eye.
Four months after the treatment, both women were able to count more letters on a visual acuity chart. No side effects or safety issues were reported. While researchers are encouraged by the experiment results, they caution that it was not determined if the improvement in vision was due to the treatment, to the immune-suppressing drugs they were given to prevent rejection of the cells or to a placebo effect.
Larger trials will be needed to determine safety and efficacy but the results of this experiment do offer new hope that promise of stem cell treatments will be realized in the near future.*
Measuring visual acuity in people 65 and older not cost effective, study says
01.23.2012
Dr. Paul Krawitz performing a dilated retinal examination
A recent study suggests that it would be more cost effective for new Medicare enrollees to receive dilated eye exams in place of visual acuity screenings. Currently, when people are enrolled in the Medicare program, they receive a visual acuity screening along with other preventive healthcare checks.
The study involved 50,000 simulated patients with demographic characteristics matched to people 65 years of age. Diabetics were excluded because visual acuity screenings had already been determined to be cost effective and patients with diagnosed eye disease were also left out.
Researchers found that when compared to a no-screening policy, dilated eye evaluations increased quality-adjusted life years by 0.0008 and increased costs by $94. The quality-adjusted life years for those who had visual acuity screenings increased in less than 95 percent of the simulations and the total costs were increased by $32 per person.*
Stem cells the magic solution to macular degeneration vision loss?
01.19.2012
The discovery of a new source of stem cells at the back of the eye offers hope of possibly one day being able to repair the damage from age-related macular degeneration. Researchers discovered the central nervous system stem cells in a the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) which lies behind the retina.
Stem cells from the RPE layer were taken from they eyes of more than 100 deceased donors who ranged in age from 22 to 99. However, the cells would also be able to be taken from living people by inserting a needle in the eye and removing the cells from the sub-retinal space.
Using these retrieved cells, researchers were able to get about 10% of the stem cells to grow in the lab. Researchers believe that with additional manipulation, it would be possible to create other types of central nervous system cells and neural retinal cells in particular. RPE cells and photoreceptors are important cell types for age-related macular degeneration.*
Cataract surgical patients may lose some visual acuity 2 years after surgery
01.17.2012
One in eight cataract surgical patients lost at least two lines of visual acuity within the first 2 years after their surgery. The Cataract Surgery and Age-Related Macular Degeneration Study involved 1,936 patient who were age 65 years and older.
Visual acuity data was available for 1,809 of the study participants at 1 month post-operative and for 1,294 of the patients at 2 years. The cataract surgery was performed between 2004 and 2007 and researchers evaluated both presenting and pinhole visual acuity as well utilized retinal photography.
After 2 years, 71.9% of the patients maintained the visual acuity that they had at 1 month. 15.4% of participants actually had an improvement in their pinhole visual acuity while 12.7% recorded a reduction in visual acuity. Researchers noted that the strongest risk factor in reduction of vision after the surgery is the age of the patient and the presence of macular lesions.
Will Magnets offer new method of treating AMD?
01.14.2012
Researchers at the Sheba Medical Center are pleased with the initial results from an animal study being conducted to determine the effects of electromagnetic stimulation for retinal degeneration. Details of the study’s report were published in the Ophthalmology Times and results were presented at the International Symposium for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Vienna.
The study involved the use of a transcranial magnetic stimulation system which was developed by Brainsway Ltd. and there were two phases of the study. The first phase of the study involved fifteen rats. Over a 2 week period, eight of the rats received active stimulation while the remaining seven received a sham treatment. An improvement in the retina’s response to light was noted in the rats who received the active stimulation although it was a short-lasting improvement.
The treatment period was extended to 4 weeks in the second phase of the study and involved sixteen rats. Half of the rats received the real stimulation and the other half received sham stimulation. The extended treatment period resulted in greater and longer-lasting improvement in the retinal function of the rats receiving the real stimulation. An improvement in the photoreceptor function was also noted in this second phase of the study which was not indicated in the initial phase.
The study’s promising results will lead to further research. The additional research will involve testing the eye tissue and optimizing the treatment protocol. Clinical testing will also be done on human participants who have macular degeneration-induced blindness.
