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The Eye on Vision Foundation is supporting research for a safe
non-surgical treatment for vitreous floaters, without the risk of
cataract formation, retinal detachment, vitreous frill, glaucoma or
other visual risks and side effects.
What are vitreous eye
floaters? Eye floaters are spots in your vision. They may look like
black or gray specks, strings, lines, clouds or cobwebs that drift about
when you move your eyes. While floaters may be non-bothersome for some
patients, others have a more severe case, which greatly affect their
quality of life. Many patients who suffer with floaters cannot read
well, use the computer, spend time outdoors, or drive. Research has also
shown that patients with floaters often times suffer from a loss of
contrast sensitivity, possibly due to the light scattering that floaters
cause.
While the medical community as a whole has taught
doctors to treat floaters as benign and a normal part of aging, this
condition should not be seen as normal. Billions of dollars are spent in
the cosmetics industry to rid people of wrinkles (which is also a
normal part or aging), so why wouldn?t research be done to rid people of
gray lines and clouds in their vision? Why? Because floaters have yet
to be truly recognized as a disease. The Eye on Vision Foundation
strives to change this outlook in the medical community.
People
are risking their eyesight to try and rid themselves of floaters. There
is a surgery that was designed as a ?sight-saving? procedure to reach
the retina, which also removes the vitreous. Some floaters, most of the
time not all, are removed when the vitrectomy surgery is performed.
Patients with severe floaters have flown to other states and countries
seeking out this surgery to try and rid themselves of floaters. Even if
the surgery goes good, which it doesn?t always, you are guaranteed an
early cataract. People is their 20?s are having this surgery because
their floaters are that bad. Knowing that they are risking retinal
detachment (blinding) and guaranteeing themselves a cataract. Imagine
something being so bad with your eyes that you would fly half way around
the world and risk blindness just for the chance at some relief. It?s a
terrible choice for patients to make, especially the young patients who
would normally be decades away from cataracts. Plus, cataract surgery
causes floaters, so it is a vicious cycle because in a year or two after
the surgery to remove floaters, you will get a cataract, have surgery
and get more floaters. It?s almost like a sick joke!
This is
why, it is our strong belief that pharmacologic vitreolysis (the use of
drugs) is the safest future cure for vitreous floaters. There was
minimal experimentation in 2013 by Dr. Sebag to develop novel enzymes
for dissolving floaters, but this work has not continued due to lack of
funding.
In order to develop pharmacologic vitreolysis (drugs)
for the purpose of dissolving floaters, adequate tools are needed to
evaluate the effects of different drugs at different concentrations for
varied durations of exposure. One tool that is needed to evaluate this
is a light scattering apparatus. This tool will facilitate both
objective and clinical measures of light scattering by floaters as well
as the development of a pharmacologic vitreolysis (drug) cure.
I
know I?m including a lot of scientific terminology, but it is important
for people to be informed. My retina doctor says that I know more about
the vitreous and retina than 99.9% of his patients. Trust me, I wish
that I didn?t, but I suffer greatly from a severe case of vitreous
floaters and have for a decade. They have recently worsened to the point
where I spend maybe 5 minutes a day on the computer and I only drive
locally and never at night. I?m 36 years old, and there are 80 year olds
that see more clearly than I do. I?m 100% dedicated to finding a safe
treatment for vitreous floaters. With your help, we can get this very
important research started again. Remember, all people will develop
floaters. There are many reasons why ? eye injury, the need for distance
glasses (myopia), LASIK, prior YAG surgery, cataract surgery or as a
natural part of the aging process. The question is to what degree? Will
you luck out any get one or two that you barely ever notice or will you
be less fortunate and develop 20, 30, or more in each eye that you see
even in dim light and with sunglasses on? There is no way to know for
sure, but once they are there, they are there to stay. Let?s work
together to change that and find a treatment for vitreous eye floaters! http://www.gofundme.com/floaters |