Cataract surgery helps patients with AMD, DME improvement steroids

Ophthalmology This month, the Journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) reports on a national study finds, the cataract surgery is likely in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in all phases of the disease, showing a clinical benefit that the steroid is triamcinolone in patients with advanced diabetic patients with macular edema (DME) in effect when standard therapy fails, and promoted the use of the general public two Oscars, online forums eye health. Multicenter Study Finds patients benefit from AMD, cataract surgery

Cataract surgery improves vision in patients with mild stage to advanced AMD in the first study on a sufficient number of patients with advanced AMD. Data were obtained from the multicenter, prospective, Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), which was organized primarily to assess the effects of high doses of vitamins and Minerals to cataracts and AMD. As the U.S. population is aging prevalence of AMD is expected to increase at a time, many patients develop cataract, both diseases that lead to blindness if not treated.

"Previously, epidemiology, cataract surgery had suggested would worsen AMD, so the data from the AREDS cohort study were analyzed to answer this important question," says Emily Y. Chew, MD, director of the study conducted for NEI.

The cohort, composed in 1939 eyes (1244 patients) at various stages of AMD was assessed for visual acuity (sharpness) following cataract surgery. On average, patients with AMD won that easy to advanced, the visual acuity after cataract surgery, the gains were better in patients with poor visibility than20/40 before surgery. No difference in improvement was noted between patients with neovascular "wet" () or "dry" (central geographic atrophy) AMD. About a year later, vision remained statistically significant gains in the eyes of 865 for monitoring. Results for the main axis of the AREDS showed the effect of dietary supplements that had high doses of vitamin C, E and beta-carotene has no effect on the development and progression of cataract, but this combination of vitamins and zinc reduced the risk of progression to advanced 25 percent within five years of the study, AMD.

Steroids help patients with diabetic macular edema when other treatments are not

A five-year study at the University of Sydney, Australia based found that intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA) the effective improvement of vision in patients with DME, a form of diabetic retinopathy, the eye continued to deteriorate, even if the standard of care received laser treatment.

"The majority of patients have improved after initial treatment with IVTA point of view even better five years of our clinical study, and no new safety concerns are addressed in these patients," said lead researcher, Dr Mark Gillies, PhD. "We believe that treatment can be with IVTA in carefully selected patients with DME peak seen when standard therapy failed to improve vision," he added.

Were treated in the first three months of treatment, patients initially with two IVTA and laser showed significantly better gains in the vision that the control group patients who are treated with the laser. After two years, patients in the original control group were treated with IVTA. The effect was more beneficial to IVTA-treated patients in the study of five years, however, developed 80 per cent of patients in the first group IVTA increased intraocular pressure and 56 percent of them required treatment of glaucoma. Even two-thirds of all patients underwent cataract surgery during the study period. Similar results were also found in other studies, treatment with steroids and were therefore not as new security problems that the group Mr. Gillies.

What do people do about eye health in online forums?

On the subject of great interest to identify people who have access to eye health information online, analyst John C. Hagan, MD, and colleagues, 4485 Questions about six months (1 September 2008-1 March 2009) published the "Ask a Doctor: Ophthalmology and Eye Care Community" forums sponsored by the Academy on MedHelp (www . medhelp.org), one of the top 10 health information sites. Dr. Hagan, and three other ophthalmologists offer free, relevant advice on a large and growing number of people with healthy eyes and vision Through these forums. serious problems such as life-threatening retinoblastoma in babies were caught and handled in time, thank you to these forums, like thousands of eyes and other vision problems.

Concern retina tops the list with nearly 20 percent of all questions, because many people asked about "flashing", "floaters" and retinal detachment. About 19 percent of the questions were related to the cornea, the outer surface of the eye that helps focus light to make the vision possible. Cataract and lens implant questions have been raised, in addition to prevalence, followed by brain and eye problems (Neuro-Ophthalmology), Eye of children) direction (strabismus, eye cancer, and general malaise or blurred vision. Two to three per cent of questions to each of the three themes vision correction: refractive surgery (LASIK and other) glasses or contact lenses. A smaller number were available products of eye care or health related. The analysis also found many people to submit messages to their gratitude for the medical advice of expression.