The Angiogenesis Foundation has announced the availability of a new whitepaper called “Advocating for Improved Treatment and Outcomes for Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration” (AMD), reported a press release recently.
According to the press release, the wet version of macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in persons who are at least 50 years old in developed countries.
The report is based on developments at the Australian Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration Coalition Expert Summit that occurred in Sydney, Australia, in July 2012. At the summit, numerous healthcare players met to discuss hindrances to timely and proper care for Australians who have wet AMD related vision loss. The document, or whitepaper, arising from the summit summarizes important talks that took place at the summit and proposes concrete suggestions intended to inform national health services, patient advocates, and the clinical and research community.
The amount of Australians living with AMD is expected to expand to over 1.7 million by 2030. Meanwhile, a lot of patients at this point do not get timely medical attention for their eye health. According to the press release, there is a relatively small treatment window when it comes to wet AMD, which means that delay in administering treatment can lead to blindness.
According to the press release, new diagnostic methods and therapies have helped in the fight to both diagnose and treat wet AMD, which occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow beneath the eye and leak blood and other liquid that damage the macula. The press release specifically mentioned promising developments such as spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and antiangiogenesis therapy. Combining these techniques with early diagnosis can, as it turns out, ward off, slow down and potentially even reverse vision impairment. The press release added that one barrier for patients in Australia is affordability, which means that more needs to be done to increase access to treatment.
Angiogenesis Foundation President Dr. William Li was cited as saying in the press release that “Wet AMD is a silent epidemic of the aging global population.” He added that using “antiangiogenic treatments” properly will help older persons to “preserve their vision” and enhance their “quality of life.”
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Reference: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130505-900827.html