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AMD sufferer Rosalyn to have pioneering eye op
A HIPPERHOLME woman will be among the first in Yorkshire to undergo pioneering treatment to restore her sight.
Rosalyn Jowett, 57, suffers from macular degeneration which is the most common cause of sight loss in the over 50s.
It is often referred to as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and there are two kinds.
"Dry" is the most common form causing gradual loss of vision, while "wet" results in blood vessels growing behind the retina which causes scarring and can lead to sight loss.
Mrs Jowett, suffers from the "dry" condition and can no longer recognise faces in a room or drive.
She has been screened as suitable for new treatment which involves the surgical implantation of a pair of lenses that divert images away from the damaged macular and on to a healthy part of the retina.
The Courier earlier this year highlighted the case of AMD sufferers locally and the lack of treatment available.
Former Halifax MP Alice Mahon, who suffers from "wet" AMD, and current MP Linda Riordan are campaigning for NHS funding for the drug Lucentis to be made more widely available. The drug can stabilise the "wet" disease.
The Yorkshire Eye Hospital at Apperley Bridge, between Leeds and Bradford, is the first hospital in Yorkshire and the second in the UK to offer the new implant treatment. The hospital's consultant team has been trained by Italian eye surgeons who have already carried out successful operations.
Hospital consultant ophthalmologist Shafiq Rehman said: "This pioneering treatment can restore vision in those for whom, up until now, there has been no effective treatment.
"It is gratifying to offer this treatment to patients suffering from conditions such as dry macular degeneration."
Mrs Jowett said her sight had been steadily deteriorating and is prepared to pay privately for treatment in the absence of any NHS funding – the treatment costs 6,000 per eye.
She is having further talks with the hospital this week.
"Half of patients can't currently get Lucentis on the NHS so there is not much chance of getting this new treatment," said Mrs Jowett, who sells cleaning materials from home.
"But this treatment could change my life completely."
A surgeon in Macclesfield, Cheshire, has treated more than 100 patients using the new implant treatment.
Mrs Mahon said it should be available on the NHS and it was cost effective – a 12 month course of Lucentis costs 12,000.
"Macular degeneration is a medical condition and people pay into the system believing they will get treatment."
And she said it was an obscene policy when Calderdale residents and others had to go blind in one eye before being eligible for Lucentis while Scottish patients did not have to wait.
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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