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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Health Alerts: Macular Degeneration

10:55 AM CST on Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The New York Times



MACULAR DEGENERATION


Therapies can help prevent vision damage

Cases of age-related macular degeneration are expected to rise significantly by 2050, but better use of therapies is expected to lower the percentage of cases that result in vision loss and disability.

Scientists at Research Triangle Institute International analyzed existing data and projected the disease's future prevalence based on various treatment scenarios. Their study, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, concludes that cases will increase from 9.1 million in 2010 to 17.8 million in 2050. They attribute almost all of the increases to aging of the U.S. population.

The disease causes deterioration of the macula, the main area of the retina, a thin tissue at the back of the eye where light-sensitive cells send signals to the brain. Damage to the macula results in blurred or distorted vision and blind spots.

Study authors say existing therapies could cut visual impairment by as much as 35 percent. One cost-effective way to delay the disease, researchers say, is through antioxidant vitamin therapy.


SOURCES: American Health Assistance Foundation; Archives of Ophthalmology

1 comments:

jaqulin said...

Thank you so much for helping us by giving these information on Macular degeneration. My father is a patient of this disease so we thought that he should try to get macular degeneration treatment which is in reasonable cost too.