Lehigh Valley Center For Sight

All of us are players in the human drama, and there are moments when we get to observe it up close and very personal. I was in Chicago, preparing to speak in an ophthalmology practice. As I often do, I arrived early to sit in the waiting area and work to get a feel for the energy and style of the practice. I didn’t mean to overhear their conversation, but as I listened, I was deeply touched by their love and in that moment, their fear. I learned that Charlie was 88 and Rose was 86. I am sure they were holding hands as Rose was saying “Oh, Charlie, I am so sorry about the falls I have had. I just can’t see the step from the kitchen into the family room.” Charlie tried to comfort her. “It’s alright Dear, the Doctor will give us the answers, and I am sure you’ll be better.” I didn’t speak to Charlie over the next 40 minutes believing that I would be intruding but sure that he was living every second of the exam going on just a few steps away. When Rose exited the Doctor’s office, she ...

The biopharmaceutical company Apellis has treated the first patient in its Phase 3 clinical trial program for APL-2, a compound designed to slow the progression of advanced dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) also known as geographic atrophy (GA). The Phase 3 program consists of two clinical trials: DERBY and OAKS. Each will enroll 600 patients. Trial participants will receive intravitreal injections of APL-2, or a sham procedure (placebo), monthly or every other month. The injections are made into the vitreous, the soft gel in the middle of the eye. In the Phase 2 clinical trial, monthly injections of APL-2 slowed the growth of GA lesions by 29 percent . GA lesions are the regions in the retina where loss of cells occurs. Cell loss correlates with vision loss. APL-2 is designed to slow the progression of GA by inhibiting C3, a protein in the complement system . While complement is part of the human immune system that wards off harmful bacteria and viruses, it can cause da...

ProQR, a biotech company in the Netherlands, ha s reported vision improvements for patients in a  Phase 1/2 clinical trial for QR-110 , a therapy for people with  Leber congenital amaurosis  10 (LCA10), which is caused by the p.Cys998X mutation in the CEP290 gene. The mutation is estimated to affect about 2,000 people in the Western world. The company reported that 60 percent of su bjects in the trial demonstrated improvements in visual acuity and their ability to navigate a mobility course . The treatment was also safe for patients. As a result of the encouraging interim results, ProQR has concluded the Phase 1/2 trial and plans to move the treatment into a Phase 2/3 clinical trial. Ten people were treated in the Phase 1/2 study. Results from the interim analy sis were presented on September 5, 2018, at the Retinal Degeneration 2018 meeting in Killarney,   Ireland , by principal investigator   Artur Cideciyan , PhD , research professor of ophthalmology at the   Scheie Eye Ins...

Today, people are living longer than ever before so it’s important to be proactive and take responsibility for your health as you age. Like any other organ in your body, your eyes do not stay the same as you get older. Vision changes are normal with age but vision loss and blindness is not.  Older adults are at higher risk for certain eye diseases and conditions, including age-related macular degeneration , cataract , diabetic retinopathy , glaucoma , dry eye , and low vision.  To continue to enjoy healthy vision as you advance in years, it’s important to have a comprehensive dilated eye examination with an ophthalmologist on a regular basis. Here are some other tips to maintain healthy vision now and as you age: Eat a healthy, balanced diet.  Fruits and vegetables can help keep your eyes healthy. Visit our website for healthy eye recipes, click here Eye Cook. Maintain a healthy weight.  Being overweight increases your risk for diabetes. By exercising regularly, you can help preve...

Audio version: Ophthotech is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing therapeutics and gene therapy solutions to treat retinal diseases. The company is aggressively pursuing therapies for orphan conditions like retinitis pigmentosa (RP), Stargardt disease , and Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), as well as common indications such as wet and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Most impressive, the company is taking on a multi-track strategy that includes retinal gene-therapy development, including delivery of over-sized genes and design of a two-step process of gene knockdown and replacement for autosomal dominant conditions. While these are the scientific challenges that keep most retinal researchers awake at night, Ophthotech thrives on them and sees them as opportunities to meet significant unmet medical needs for people with retinal diseases. Kourous Rezaei, MD, the company’s chief medical officer, says his team’s clinical and drug-development expertise, as...

The Foundation Fighting Blindness has announced funding for seven new research projects to advance the development of treatments and cures for retinal degenerative diseases. Each project will receive a total of $300,000 over a three-year period. The grants were selected through FFB’s annual call for research proposals from individual investigators. Seventy scientists submitted requests for funding. Applications were reviewed by FFB’s Scientific Advisory Board , which is comprised of the world’s leading retinal experts. “Many of the funded research projects are cross-cutting, meaning they have the potential to benefit a broad range of people, independent of the mutated genes causing their retinal diseases,” says Stephen Rose, PhD, FFB’s chief scientific officer. “Also, some projects address a critical gap in our understanding and modeling of disease, and have potential to move the field forward in a significant way.” Here are summaries of the seven new projects: Gene Therapy to Pres...

Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming solar eclipse and how to safely view the eclipse without losing vision from solar retinopathy! A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon casts its shadow, known as the umbra, on Earth. Partial or total eclipses occur somewhere on Earth about every 18 months as you can see here in in this photo showing solar eclipses since 2001. Photo credit: Wikipedia On August 21, the entire United States will experience at least a partial eclipse, but only those in what is known as the path of totality will witness a total solar eclipse. The eclipse will occur quite quickly, and even those within the path of totality will see, at most, 2 minutes and 40 seconds of the total solar eclipse. So how can you safely view the solar eclipse? Well, if you are IN the path of totality you will first witness a partial eclipse, and then the short time period of the total eclipse, and then the partial eclipse ...