AMD patients can benefit from steroids and cataract surgery
The steroid triamcinolone can prove its real worth when it comes to treating patients with advanced diabetic macular edema (DME) when all other standard treatments fail to deliver, as per study reported by this month’s Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) to evaluate benefits of cataract surgery for patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at all stages of the disease.
From News-Medical.Net:
“Earlier epidemiology had suggested cataract surgery might worsen AMD, so the data from the AREDS cohort study were evaluated to answer this important question,” said Emily Y. Chew, MD, who led the study for NEI.
The cohort, comprising 1,939 eyes (1,244 patients) with various stages of AMD, was evaluated for visual acuity (sharpness) after cataract surgery. On average, patients with AMD, ranging from mild to advanced, gained visual acuity after cataract surgery; the best gains were in patients with vision worse than20/40 before surgery. No difference in improvement was noted between patients with “wet” (neovascular) or “dry” (central geographic atrophy) AMD. About one year later vision gains remained statistically significant in the 865 eyes available for follow-up. Results for the primary focus of AREDS, regarding the effect of nutritional supplements, showed that high doses of vitamins C, E and beta-carotene did not affect the development or progression of cataract, but this vitamin combination plus zinc did reduce the risk of progression to advanced AMD by 25 percent in the five years of the study.
It is believed that these findings would prove helpful to scientists and patients all over the globe in the fight against cataract. It is considered that more than 80,000 people are suffering from cataract in the United States alone and this study may be more than just helpful for offering relief to cataract patients.
Tags: benefits of cataract surgery, cataract, cataract surgery, diabetic macular edema, steroid, Steroids, triamcinolone
Recent Comments