Word: macula
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...hotspot” for biochemical research and development. The drugs to be developed would slow the build-up in the eye over time of retinotoxic molecules called lipofusins—the cause of AMD—according to Rando. These toxins cause degeneration of the macula, the part of the retina that controls keenness of vision and color vision, sometimes to the point of complete blindness. “Every time light is absorbed in the retina...it produces a chemically reactive by-product,” Rando said. He explained that this by-product ought to be recycled...
About 85% to 90% of patients with AMD have the dry form, in which lesions appear on the macula, the region of the retina that is responsible for central vision. The more serious, wet form occurs when abnormal blood vessels obscure vision. A study of more than 300 people with dry AMD published in last week's American Journal of Ophthalmology showed that those who were taking statins were half as likely to develop wet AMD. Taking aspirin--with or without a statin--worked almost as well...
...hopeful approach to macular degeneration. They first took cells from the retina of an aborted fetus, then surgically transplanted them into Van Vliet's severely impaired left eye. Since the operation, the transplanted cells have begun to proliferate, forming minute projections that stretch toward Van Vliet's macula. For Ernest, a large, affable man of 62, the weekly ritual of scrutinizing the eye scans that chronicle Van Vliet's recovery from surgery proved intensely satisfying, not only professionally but also because of his frustrating experience with his father, who died...
...sure, macular degeneration, which currently affects an estimated 10 million Americans, is not a fatal disorder. But it can be cruelly debilitating. For while the macula (named after the Latin word for spot) is no wider than a pencil, it is a hundred times more sensitive to small-scale features than the rest of the retina. Without a healthy macula, people cannot read a newspaper, recognize a friend, thread a needle, watch TV, safely negotiate stairs or see much of anything...
...grow. Then the researchers transplanted the spheres into the eyes of rabbits, positioning them just beneath the retina. The RPE cells did not stay put; instead they migrated throughout the eye. This suggested that it should be possible to position a transplant at a safe distance from the macula and still get therapeutic results...