Cure for age-related macular degeneration?

By Brandie Umar - Executive Director of Content | March 29th, 2011

Age-related macular degeneration, commonly known as AMD, is one of the leading causes of blindness in the eldery. Macular degeneration is a condition where damage is caused to the macular, the area of the retina that sharpens images and provides central vision. Without central vision, everyday activities such as driving and reading are impossible.

Commonly known as AMD, macular degeneration is classified in two forms: wet AMD and dry AMD. Dry macular degeneration is the most commonly diagnosed type of macular degeneration however wet macular degeneration is the major cause of vision loss.

A relatively new type of radiation therapy, epimacular brachytherapy, offers a solution to the regular drug injections currently used to treat wet AMD. Epimacular brachytherapy, hailed in the news as the 'one-off, one-hour treatment to cure blindness' (sic- Daily Mail.co.uk) is an updated method of previous radiation treatments that caused major side effects.

Epimacular brachytherapy is a treatment for wet macular degeneration and works by directing a precise beam of radiation to the damaged macular to break up the surplus blood vessels and restore vision. Unlike the drug injections, epimacular brachytherapy does not need repeating as once the blood vessels are destroyed the AMD is cured.

Seemingly offering a cure not treatment for AMD, it is likely the availability of the treatment will become more widely available, however, one side effect of epimacular brachytherapy is the faster development of

cataracts in patients who have not had cataract surgery.

The cost of Epimacular brachytherapy for wet age-related macular degeneration is averagely £6000, however the cost varies between clinics.

For more information, contact an opthalmologist.