Growing epidemic of wet AMD ushers in new era in treatment of t...( epression said presenter Lylas G. Mog...),Health

epression," said presenter Lylas G. Mogk, M.D., founding director of the Visual Rehabilitation and Research Center at the Henry Ford Health System Eye Care Services. "For most people, losing both legs would actually impact our lives less than losing our central vision. So it's not a surprise that sighted Americans fear vision loss second only to loss of mental capacity."

Living with vision loss does not have to be such a lonely and isolating experience. Today, vision rehabilitation services are available to maximize independence and preserve quality of life for the hundreds of thousands of Americans living with age-related macular degeneration. Between six and ten percent of patients with AMD progress to the wet form of the disease, characterized by the growth of abnormal blood vessels. Currently only 25 percent of patients with wet AMD have a treatment option approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition to vision rehabilitation, innovations in biotechnology have the potential to fill the large unmet medical need by offering new treatments to wet AMD patients.

Hope on the Horizon: Anti-VEGF, Anti-Angiogenic and Angiostatic Treatments

Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, Chairman of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, said that a new treatment paradigm for wet macular degeneration is emerging. This new treatment paradigm is based on the use of drugs which block VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), the molecule which promotes the growth of abnormal blood vessels in wet macular degeneration. These drugs can be delivered directly into the eye by injection and attack abnormal VEGF in the retina and adjoining tissues in eyes with wet macular degeneration.

"There are several reasons why anti-VEGF treatment for macular degeneration is so exciting. For the first time, we will have a treatment option for
'"/>

Contact: Media Relations
media@aao.org
415-561-8534
American Academy of Ophthalmology
25-Oct-2004

Page: 1 2 3 4
Related medicine news :

1. Growing your own replacement teeth? Not science fiction!
2. Americas teens: Growing up and out
3. Growing evidence that commonly used medicines may delay or prevent Alzheimers disease
4. Growing blood vessels around clots in leg arteries may treat painful walking
5. Growing new blood vessels with a timed-release capsule of growth factor is a promising treatment for heart bypass patients, finds NHLBI study
6. Do Neurons Learn By Growing Thorns? Emergence Of Dendritic Spines Is Associated With Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity
7. Growing Younger By Keeping Up Regular Physical Activity
8. Acceptability Of Alternative Health Care Growing In U.S.
9. US syphilis epidemics not driven by increases in unsafe sex say researchers
10. Likelihood of a large vCJD epidemic remains small claim researchers
11. Hepatitis C at epidemic levels among young injectors in London