By Free Republic | Created at 2024-10-28 04:31:30 | Updated at 2024-10-28 07:22:12
3 hours ago
Light therapy might help ease 'dry' form of macular degeneration
Medical Xpress / HeathDay / Annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology ^ | Oct. 22, 2024 | Dennis Thompson / Dr. David Boyer et al
Posted on 10/27/2024 9:21:46 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Light therapy could be a useful treatment for the most common form of age-related macular degeneration, a study says.
The therapy, called photobiomodulation or "red light" therapy, can reduce the risk of vision loss and slow progression of the "dry" form of macular degeneration, researchers reported.
About eight out of 10 people with macular degeneration have the "dry" form of the disease. They slowly lose central vision as the macula—a small but important area in the center of the retina—becomes thinner and accumulates tiny clumps of protein called drusen.
There are effective drugs available for people with "wet" AMD, in which leaking blood vessels damage the macula, Boyer said.
But people with dry AMD have few options to protect their eyesight, aside from changes to their diet and lifestyle, he said.
Photobiomodulation uses different wavelengths of light to improve function in the cells of the retina, keeping them healthier for longer. It's a technique already used in eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy, researchers said.
For this study, researchers recruited 100 patients with high-risk dry AMD, and randomly assigned to receive either photobiomodulation or a placebo. Treatment was administered three times a week for three weeks, repeated every four months.
After two years, 53% of patients receiving light therapy had significant improvement in their vision as measured by an eye chart. By comparison, 18% of patients in the placebo group had a significant decline in their eye chart test results.
The light therapy patients also had a 73% reduction in their progression toward geographic atrophy, the last stage of AMD, while untreated patients had a 24% increase in disease progression, results show.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide in December whether to approve photobiomodulation for treatment of dry AMD, researchers said.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
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After two years, 53% of patients receiving light therapy had significant improvement in their vision as measured by an eye chart. The light therapy patients also had a 73% reduction in their progression toward geographic atrophy, the last stage of AMD. These are great results.
This therapy is available today for diabetic retinopathy and could be used by your doctor, before final FDA approval in December.
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2 posted on 10/27/2024 9:22:17 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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