British surgeons using radiation beams to halt macular degeneration
By Darren Murph 
posted November 23rd 2009 7:28AM
posted November 23rd 2009 7:28AM
We've seen more eyesight restoration efforts than we could easily count, but rather than tooting their horn about some theoretical discovery, boffins at Kings College Hospital in London are actually putting their hard work to use on real, live human brings. The new process, which goes by the name brachytherapy, is a one-off treatment for macular degeneration. In essence, surgeons carefully light up a beam of radiation within the eye for just over three minutes, which kills harmful cells without damaging anything else. A trial is currently underway in order to restore eyesight in some 363 patients, and everything thus far leads us to believe that the process is both safe and effective. As for costs? The procedure currently runs £6,000 ($9,889), but that's still not awful when you consider that existing treatments involving injections run £800 per month. Hop past the break for a video report. 
"putting their hard work to use on real live human brings"
Human brings what where now?
If the surgery is unsuccessful, they become humans brought.
They should call it the iSight.
ugh 10k for a little radiation light therapy, RIP OFF!!
Your eyesight isn't worth 10,000 dollars?
but it is not the point.
The cost must be "the price is proportional to the cost of the treatment and implement" and not (the American way of Health Care) "How much money do you carry in your wallet?"
It's probably $10k because the therapy is experimental and probably requires a lot of proprietary things/software/etc. Past the initial trials it should decrease somewhat. If it proves to be extremely effective, people will put effort into create distributable packages of equipment / software / training to perform the operation, pushing prices down a lot more.
An extra cost is the tacked-on amount for the risk of getting sued by an insurance company for botching the operation.
I suspect the first Lasik operations were very expensive. Now it's pretty cheap unless you want the more advanced treatment and even that's about a thousand per eye.
In the grand scheme of things, 10k is not much if it proves to be an effective and relatively non-invasive cure for this disease. Blind workers are not worth all that much to the government (especially if they start to claim disability!), so it's in their best interests to keep people's eyesight working and provide a service like this.
£6,000 or free. Socialized medicine f yeah!
Nothing is free.
The most Important things in life are free.
^_^
Off topic - How do you 'Verify' your account on here? tired of seeing Unverified on my account. I've looked everywhere....
1) Logout
2) Log in again
3) Pick username
4) ????
5) You know the drill! :o)
They had a small bit about this on the site-redesign entry (aaaages ago) but it's easily missed. The logging out is important as on logging back in, it will prompt you for a user name which will then appear instead of (Unverified).
Something to watch for, that I don't think they'd originally mentioned, if you chose a name that is different to your original (user) name then it can get a little confusing as it may not match the @ replies in messages (so yours would currently appear as @GadgetGeek even though it currently appears as "Unverified").
What so when you say "A trial is currently underway in order to restore eyesight in some 363 patients"
They will be 'cured' of total blindness, or this is just a therapy to help with the condition? It sounds incredible if its true :-]
Macular degeneration is not total blindness in most cases.
I think you will find that this is meant to only slow the progression of the disease rather than cure it. This form of treatment has existed for years for Diabetic Retinopathy, where aberrant blood vessels are cauterized with a laser, thus slowing the progression of the disease. The difference is that this treatment for Macular Degeneration is more specific to the region, since the macula of Macular Degeneration is in your central field of vision only and takes up a very small percentage of the retinal surface area. In Diabetic Retinopathy you have a general full field degeneration starting in the peripheral fields of vision, and thus the treatment is more dispersed. With MD it needs to be very specific to the macula, which is difficult.
I think it's pretty sweet that our friends across the pond will be able to enjoy full HD and better well into their old age.
You guys sure your allowed to share that video? I mean has Murdoch cleared it? He could accuse you of stealing his content.
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£6000 isn't a lot for restoring your eyesight. People with this disability would do anything to have their eyesight back. I know I would and I know people with the ailment would too as its a very cruel thing to have happen to you. Trying living without sight for one day and see how you manage.
Yeah and 10 grand for an armed mugger is worth your life, but that doesn't mean we can't bitch about the mugger when he walks off with your 10 grand.
I'm actually a retinal surgeon, and I just wanted to let you guys know that this device is currently undergoing trials here in the US as well as other european countries. I totally disagree with Patrick 2 though. In the past, older treatments did slow the progression of the disease, now we have injections that can improve vision, although they are not cured of the disease. In addition, while this treatment may not "cure" macular degeneration it may "cure" the choroidal neovascularization that is leading to vision loss. The treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy has nothing to do with the treatment of macular degeneration, as we don't use laser at all anymore, except in very unique circumstances, and the thought process behind the treatments are very different.
You are correct in that they are different treatments, but the physiological effects (precise indications for use) are very similar. Neovascularization will continue to occur and lead to problems even after treatment until you mitigate the root cause. Also, maybe you still don't use lasers, but believe it or not many still do in the US (in Richmond, VA and Washington, DC to be specific).
So, I don't suppose this has any bearing on treatments for RP, does it? I know that like RP, there's a genetic component to MD, but I assume that with MD the actual degeneration of photoreceptors must be related to these "leaky" vessels. I've not heard of such being the direct cause of retinal degeneration in RP. Am I correct in thus thinking that this type of therapy could have no bearing on slowing the progression of RP?
Your asking a question that has a very complex answer. In short, no, this would not mean anything relevant for RP, although you are correct in the similarities of RP and MD. Also, keep in mind that neovascularization is a symptom of MD, not the cause (thus the problem I have with this article). Furthermore, you are correct that they both have a genetic basis, but RP is more directly correlated with several types of genetic mutations than MD,
Hi Beandog, can you tell me where in the US this experimental treatment is going on. I have a dear friend who is losing her site very quickly. Please email your response to me at Nathan.Ehrlich@gmail.com with any info you have. Thanks so much I greatly appreciate your help.
@beandogg I'd also be interested in learning about US trials. I've been searching for one since reading this article but can't find any info.
Who would let them experimentally put radiation into their eye? Seem something best left to the next guy.
On the other hand, monthly injections (800 quid a pop too) isn't fun either, especially if it only half works.
But still, if this thing would go wrong for you you'd be in so much trouble.
This is pretty cool. Hopefully it turns out to be something that actually works permanently and is safe.
Gad... I haven't posted a comment since they updated this place? Sheesh. I guess I am now "verified" to exist. Hah!
@Patrick 2 That is as I figured. Thanks for the reply. Will keep waiting on gene therapy, programmed stem-cell transplants, bionic retinas, etc. :)
@Patrick 2 That is as I figured. Thanks for the reply. Will keep waiting on gene therapy, programmed stem-cell transplants, bionic retinas, etc. :)