What is the newest treatment for macular degeneration?

Macular degeneration is a condition that causes damage to the macula, which is responsible for providing sharp and clear central vision. It’s a disease commonly seen after old age and can lead to permanent loss of eyesight in severe conditions.
But don’t you worry, we as humans always come up with something new! Today we present you with the latest treatment out there!

Understanding Macular Degeneration

Before diving into treatments let’s understand what macular degeneration actually means.
It is an eye illness where our retina starts deteriorating day by day. This leads to blurry vision or even results in total blindness.

Why does this happen? Well, several factors contribute towards it like old age, genetics or exposure to harmful UV rays (oh no not sunbathing!)

Traditional Treatments

We have had different traditional methods used over time such as laser therapy (sounds fancy!), photodynamic therapy (ooh scientific!), medication injections(don’t get scared thinking about needles!))

Now hold on tight because today we are gonna introduce you all to…drum roll please….:

Gene Therapy!

Gene therapy helps target some root cause genetic mutations which contributes in the damage being caused.

With just one injection of gene medicine administered right into your eye(sounds painful doesn’t it?), patients start seeing visible improvements within their visual fields until they have better side-vision than before! Now who wouldn’t want that?

But what are genes?

In short- Genes carry instructions which controls how cells uses protein machinery inside them so they function normally without any abnormalities.(Yes I did surprise myself at how simplified I made that sound).

The procedure requires injecting good genes inside retinal cells. Sounds simple enough but here comes grand finale moment:

The Process
Labs create viruses by inserting copies of healthy portions PDE6B or PRPH2 into a virus
This “good” portion of the genes is injected into your eyes replacing faulty or abnormal gene segments which in turn brings forth improvement!

Benefits of Gene Therapy:

Undoubtedly gene therapy has many benefits. Here are a few:

  • HELP PREVENT PROGRESSION OF VISION LOSS!
  • ONLY GOES AFTER THE HARMFUL DISEASE CAUSING GENETIC MUTATIONS
  • HAS A VERY HIGH SUCCESS RATE.

All these have definitely put us on track to find more about this revolutionary treatment.

What else do you need to know?

Before concluding, here is quick list for key things to consider before opting for gene therapy:

Pros Cons
Quick and simple recovery Not covered by health insurance
High success rate Possibility of vision blurriness post-treatment period
Rapid Improvement opportunity

I hope this article gives you a lighter idead about the newest treatment available out there, nothing beats prevention than cure though! Keep your eye safe from UV rays and stay young forever!(not really)

Stay curious!

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