The results of the experiment showed that 16 of the 17 patients who received the resveratrol showed improvements in both contrast vision and visual acuity. The most dramatic results were with an 88-year-old woman who had been deemed “beyond help” from specialists. The woman regained her ability to see faces, read a menu and visualize her handwriting after just four days of treatment.

The study participants did not receive any placebo and a clinical trial comparing the drug to placebos will be necessary to confirm the results of this preliminary study. Dr. Paul Krawitz has long noted the beneficial properties of resveratrol and offers a resveratrol supplement in his VisiVite Reziva formula.*

Yet despite a growing mountain of evidence, that’s exactly what’s happening with the two leading treatments for wet macular degeneration.

Lucentis costs $2000 per dose. Avastin costs $40 per dose. Both are made by Genentech. Only Lucentis injections are FDA approved for wet macular degeneration, not its cheaper counterpart.

Did we mention that many people require 12 injections per year? For Lucentis, that’s a Medicare cost of $24,000. Per year. Every year.

But the 2-year results of the Comparison of AMD Treatments Trial (CATT) reached the following conclusion:

“In 2010, ranibizumab (Lucentis) accounted for nearly 10% of the entire Medicare Part B drug budget, its single largest expenditure. As treatment of patients continues indefinitely, the cumulative financial burden to third-party payors and patients will only increase. The choice of drug and dosing regimen for patients must balance the comparable effects on vision, the possibility of true differences in adverse events, and the 40-fold difference in cost per dose between ranibizumab and bevacizumab (Avastin).”**

In a recent study in the prestigious professional journal, Ophthalmology, researchers found that drinking alcohol worsened dry eye.

Specifically, they analyzed tear film and ocular surface changes in 10 healthy subjects and controls who drank a measured dose of alcohol with a meal at dinner. When the alcohol waded its way through the bloodstream and into the tears, this is what they found:

1. Increased tear osmolarity (more concentrated, salty tears)
2. Shorter Tear Break Up Time (TBUT is the time that the the tears coat the cornea before breaking apart)
3. Higher fluorescein staining scores the next morning (uncomfortable dry spots on the corneal surface)

Their conclusion? Alcohol can induce transient dry eye syndrome, and may aggravate signs and symptoms of dry eye.

Our recommendation if you’ve got symptoms of Dry Eye?

Less Alcohol. More of Dr. Krawitz’s patented Dry Eye Relief capsules.*

Iluvien is an intravitreal implant which is inserted into the back of a patient’s eye that delivers fluocinolone acetonide (a corticosteroid) for up to three years. Study results showed that at month 30 of receiving the treatment, 38% experienced significant improvement in their visual acuity.  At the end of 36 months, 34% saw a “highly significant” difference compared to those in the control group.

Approximately three million people in the UK have diabetes and almost 200,000 suffer from vision loss associated with diabetic macular edema and it is hoped that Iluvien will be able to provide relief to those patients who are not responsive to the therapies that are currently available.

As a way to elevate awareness about vision and eye health problems, the National Eye Institute (NEI) has designated May as Healthy Vision Month. People need to be aware that vision does change as we age but that vision loss is not a normal part of aging.

The NEI is the largest vision research organization in the world and assists the federal government in researching the visual system and eye diseases. People are encouraged to get regular eye exams in hopes to improve early detection and treatment of eye disorders.

200,000 rod cells were transplanted into mice who did not have rods. Within 4 to 6 weeks of the transplants, some of the cells had formed nerve connections and the mice were able to navigate a maze in low lighting.

Results of the study were published in the journal Nature. The study involved taking immature versions of nerve cells known as rod-photoreceptors from the eyes of healthy newborn mice and injecting them into mice that were unable to see in the dark. Researchers caution that human clinical trials would most likely not be started for another 5 to 10 years.

This groundbreaking research offers hope of possible future treatments for macular degeneration.  A loss of both rods and cones causes macular degeneration so researchers would need to determine whether sight can be restored by transplanting cone cells.

The study was set up to compare the use of Avastin and Lucentis on a monthly and as-needed treatment schedule. Researchers found that both of the drugs were extremely effective no matter which dosing schedule was followed although the as-needed basis resulted in a little less gain in vision.

While the monthly treatments might have an added benefit of improved vision, patients do need to be aware of the increased risk and costs associated with monthly injections. Since both drugs have been determined to be equal when it comes to results, doctors will be to more effectively tailor each patient’s treatment.*

The study involved 78 people who had normal tear production and no allergies or other eye conditions. The study involved two sessions separated by six days or less. In the first session, the participants took either a placebo or a caffeine capsule and then in the second session they were given the other capsule.

Researchers analyzed the total volume of tears. All study participants had more tears after they took the caffeine capsule compared to when they took the placebo.

The study did not determine how long the effects of caffeine last and researchers note that the study was done on people who did not have dry eye. In addition, most people who have dry eye have a high rate of tear evaporation and the study did not evaluate that issue so more research will be needed.***

MacuCLEAR is a pharmaceutical company that focuses on developing solutions to treat vascular disorders of the eye. Following positive results with Phase II trials and support from the FDA, the company will be moving forward with its testing of MC-1101.

The compound stops the progression of Dry AMD to the more severe Wet AMD by increasing ocular blood flow to the choroidal vessels. The technology is based on the findings of George Chiou, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at MacuCLEAR, who hypothesized that AMD develops due to a reduction in choroidal blood flow. This insufficiency is now known as “The Chiou Syndrome.”

If these subsequent trials are successful, MacuCLEAR may develop a treatment for the leading cause for blindness in the world in people 50 and older. Dry AMD currently has no approved drug therapies.*

Researchers opted to use miniature pigs rather than their domestic cousins in the study. Miniature pigs only weigh about 150 pounds when mature. Researchers inserted the mutant gene which causes retinitis pigementosa into miniature pig embryos and then transferred the embryos into surrogate sows.

The resulting offspring were born with the mutant gene and also displayed classic features of the eye disease. Pleased with the results, researchers say that these pigs will be used to screen the efficacy of various new treatments for the disease.*