New Treatment Pathway for Macular Degeneration

These are revolutionary times!

Advances in the treatment of advanced (wet form) Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are arriving at a fast clip.

For decades there was nothing to offer AMD patients except laser treatments that temporarily stopped the abnormal growth of weepy blood vessels (neovascularization) but destroyed the overlying retina.

As clinicians and vision researchers learned more about AMD they succeeded in developing innovative ways to preserve AMD patients' eyesight. For example, we now know that antioxidants and vitamin supplements can delay the progression of dry form AMD to the more serious wet form.

Any delay can be good because new treatments are arriving at a furious clip. It appears that effective long-term treatments for AMD may be just around the corner.

Drugs that are painlessly injected into the eye can halt neovascularization. I discussed these treatments in a recent blog post. Lucentis and Macugen are good examples. Patients need to know, however, that these treatments need to be repeated or neovascularization will recur.

Here's the latest twist: how about a simple eyedrop that does the same thing?

Up until now it was not possible to get an adequate dose of AMD medicine to sufficiently penetrate the eye with an eyedrop. Clinical researchers in Houston are studying a novel drug compound called TG100801 - sounds more like the next George Lucas movie!

In addition to blocking neovascularization, TG100801 also quiets inflammation at the back of the eye. That's important because inflammation is responsible for macular edema (thickening of the retina due to fluid). This is a powerful combination - if it works.

The study investigators say they will know within a few months if the new eyedrops are effective and WebMD will follow closely as developments unfold.

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Macular Degeneration Gene Sheds New Light
• WebMD Video: Eye Nutrition

Technorati Tags: AMD, age related macular degeneration, vision, eye health

Back to School Lesson

So, did you have an enjoyable summer?

Are you glad the children have returned to school?

What about home school families? Do they ever get a break?

We had it much easier as children. I never started school until after Labor Day - typically the Tuesday or Wednesday after. Yeah, summer recess didn't begin until mid-June, but the ocean was just starting to warm up so we didn't miss anything.

Before I totally lose track of myself, be sure to check out Rod Moser's Back to School Guide in his WebMD All Ears Blog. As always, it is informative and amusing. You'll learn something useful regardless of your children's ages.

Now, back to me.

Our youngest child is in high school and came home grumpy the other day. "What's the problem at school?" I gently probed. My daughter explained that none of her teachers assigned her to the front row in class. "Darling, you're 17! That silly stuff doesn't matter anymore."

"Dad, I can't see the blackboard unless I'm in the front row!"

Ooops! How long has it been since your children have had their eyes checked? For our daughter (already wearing glasses for mild nearsightedness), it had been too long. In our case a quick after dinner pop-over to the clinic fixed things and now all is right with the world.

Even eye doctors can overlook the obvious once in a while. And even dentists' children get an occasional cavity, right?

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Back-to-School Eye Care for Kids
• WebMD Video: Vision Therapy for Children

Technorati Tags: back to school, vision, health and wellness

Know Your Eyecare Benefits?

Let's try to untangle some confusion about employee health benefits, especially as it relates to your good vision.

Not infrequently members with visual symptoms or eye discomfort who visit our WebMD Vision & Eye Disorder Message Board express reluctance about visiting the doctor.

There folks aren't necessarily afraid of the doctor or apprehensive about a worrisome diagnosis. Many folks insured by their employer think they do not have adequate coverage. Specifically, they are confused about the difference between the employer's Vision Plan and their regular health insurance.

Most Vision Plans offer routine healthy eye checkups, a refraction, and prescription eyewear. There may or may not be a co-payment. In many workplaces a Vision Plan is not offered or optional (read: you pay!).

Vision Plan participation offers limited benefits. For example, your Vision Plan may entitle you to one exam and one pair of new glasses per year. Given the cost of prescription spectacles a Vision Plan is a solid benefit that should not be overlooked. Some people mistakenly believe, however, that receiving that one Vision Plan visit makes them ineligible for eye care for the remainder of the year.

Does that leave you uncovered if you think you have an eye problem? Not at all!

Your regular health insurance will cover the costs for treating medical and surgical diagnoses involving the eye, orbit and surrounding structures. If you experience difficulty seeing or other problems involving your eyes contact your insurer or primary care provider for a referral to an eye doctor in your network.

Depending on the terms of your policy you may be immediately referred to an optometrist or to an ophthalmologist. Interestingly, in most areas, the charges for the initial visit are the same whether you see an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Either doctor can refract you for new glasses, but without a Vision Plan you will need to pay out of your own pocket when you visit the optical shop.

Assumptions often lead to uninformed decisions. It's important to familiarize yourself with all of the different medical and dental benefits that are available to you and your family. Your company Human Resources team can quickly clarify any misunderstandings now before the need for care arises.

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Back-to-School Eye Care
• Eyeglasses and Your Eyes

Technorati Tags: vision care, eye exam, employee benefits

This Might Get You to Quit Smoking

It's hard to believe that anyone would start smoking in 2007. It's understandable that folks with a 40-year smoking history have trouble giving up the habit, that is, treating their nicotine addiction. When asked, the majority of smokers wish they could quit.

Smokers keep smoking.

The big health scares, of course, are respiratory diseases like emphysema and lung cancer. Both diagnoses are slowly-executed death sentences. The smoker's final years are spent short of breath with progressive loss of mobility.

Smokers keep smoking.

Cigarettes also play a big role in atherosclerosis and high blood pressure. That greatly increases the risk of stroke and heart attack - more miserable ways to spend your retirement (and your children's inheritance!)

Yep, smokers keep smoking.

Smoking cessation programs work so long as the smoker is motivated to quit for good, yet fatal tobacco-induced diseases appear to be an insufficient deterrent. Many smokers are in denial and believe "someone else" will have the bad luck.

Okay. So if a slow, inexorable decline in health leading to premature death won't stop a person from smoking, will anything else? How about blindness? How about spending your retirement unable to drive a car or read a book?

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of acquired blindness in adults over 50. As the American population continues to mature the number of seniors going blind from AMD is expected to climb steadily. We've posted lots of blogs about AMD but this may be the most worthwhile.

Although the causes of AMD are felt to be multifactorial (heredity, environment, genetics, inflammation, nutrition, etc.), the only known AMD risk factor that can be controlled is smoking. Severe, irreversible vision loss from AMD is 4 times more likely to occur in smokers. Conversely, smokers who quit for 20 years reduce the risk similar to those who have never smoked. Smoking cessation will, on average, extend a person's life by 6-8 years. But here's the important part about that newfound longevity: statistically, those bonus years will more likely be spent without visual disability or shortness of breath.

Most health plans cover smoking cessation because it is cheaper for insurance companies to help you stop than to treat your subsequent smoke-related health problems. Even if you do not have insurance coverage, the daily $4 per pack cost of cigarettes could easily cover your smoking cessation treatment.

Will this information be enough to help you quit smoking once and for all?

Related Topics:

• 10 Overlooked Reasons to Quit Smoking
• Quitting Tobacco

Technorati Tags: smoking, AMD, macular degeneration, blindness, vision, eye health

Recall Ignored?

Contact lens wearers, wake up!

I came across this alarming notice from the FDA:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it was concerned that consumers were still using a contact lens solution made by Advanced Medical Optics that was recalled earlier this year. Regulators said several new cases of the potentially deadly infection known as Acanthamoeba keratitis, linked to the product, had been reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read my earlier WebMD blog about this dangerous eye infection.

Complete MoisturePlus Multipurpose Contact Lens Solution was recalled in May because of links to the infection, which is caused by a protozoan. The CDC earlier this year identified more than 20 cases of the infection in people who used the solution.

The FDA reiterated its warning that people who wear soft contact lenses should stop using Complete MoisturePlus Multipurpose Contact Lens Solution and throw away any partially used bottles.

Related Topics:

• Contact Lens Solution Recall Advice
• WebMD Video: Contact Lens Comfort

Technorati Tags: Complete MoisturePlus, contact lens solution, FDA recall, infection, eye health