New Laser Technique That Helps Delay Onset Of AMD Developed

A surgeon from King’s College London has developed a short pulse laser technique that can help delay the onset of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in older adults.

Professor John Marshall, a senior ophthalmologist at King’s College London, who had earlier pioneered laser eye surgery to cure short-sightedness, said that the new treatment could delay the effect of ageing without damaging any other cells.

Diseases Related to Old Age
Ageing is referred to the accumulation of changes that brings a person closer to death.

"The treatment is really treating ageing," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

The novel technique stimulates enzymes to eradicate waste material from a thin membrane behind the retina, called Bruch’s membrane.

It was tested in 100 diabetics, and all of them reported improvement in their sights after undergoing the treatment.

Laser Eye Surgery
Interactive section of Medindia gives general information about Laser Eye Surgery

In a fresh trial, the researchers will treat patients already suffering from AMD in one eye with the aim of saving the sight in their better eye for as long as possible.

Marshall said that once people have advanced AMD in one eye, the condition usually develops in the second eye in 18 months to three years.

Cataract Surgery
An Illustration of the Cataract surgery that is performed to restore the sight for the patients suffering from cataract, which is a loss of transparency in the eye's lens.

"If you can delay the onset by three, four, six, seven or 10 years, it’s proof of the principle," he added.

He said that the aim was to preserve their sight for the rest of their lives.

LASIK Eye Surgery
LASIK is a type of laser procedure performed on the eye to correct refractive errors and presbyopia by reshaping the cornea.

Marshall hopes that the treatment would be available within two to five years.

Conventional lasers can cause damage to the light sensitive cells in the eye.

Prof Marshall said: "With this laser it’s been specifically designed so we don’t cause any damage to the light sensitive cells or to any cells."

Source-ANI
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