One more very rainy day. Could be worse. We could be in Texas or Louisiana or Florida or on one of a dozen plus islands in the Caribbean. Definitely could be worse. [Lin/Linda: or Georgia.]
No hip hop class Monday evening because of the holiday. No class last evening because it was thundering and ‘lightning -ing -ing’. Can’t have yoga outside in those conditions.
Consequently, I have already started with a raging case of cabin fever….and I even worked seven hour days yesterday and today! What the hey?!?! Activity junkie here. Jonesing for my activity fix. Pitiful.
Good, bad or indifferent, when I am bored and frustrated I research. Then I write. I am always amazed at all of the research happening on macular degeneration.
Found an article that summarized a fair amount of the work that is going on. This time the Italians made the contribution. Doctors from Milan and Verona wrote Recent advances in the management of dry age-related macular degeneration: a review.
The authors broke down the research into methods of attack. The first area mentioned was nutritional supplements and the AREDS research. Since we have gone over that ad nauseuam, I am going to just mention it and move on. AREDS. ARED2 . Mentioned. Moving on.
Anti-inflammatory agents were next. The first one mentioned was Iluvien. Iluvien is a treatment for diabetic macular edema. It might also be helpful for AMD but the part I want to point out is the delivery system. Iluvien is injected once every three years!
Available in the UK and Germany as of 2014 and FDA approved that same year, Iluvien is delivered in a teeny, tiny little tube that is inserted into the back of the eye through injection with a very thin needle. As I said, the medication is delivered over the next three years. No additional shots.
Now I have not seen any references to this delivery system being considered for Anti-VEGF shots, but personally I would say it holds some intriguing possibilities. Cut the number of shots from 36 in three years to 1? That would have real appeal to me!
I believe I mentioned POT. That is POT4. It is a C4 inhibitor. Zumira and Eculizumab are C5 inhibitors. Once again they are picking a variety of complement factors to target. I believe this is just more evidence we are going to need genetic testing before treatment in the near future.
I also see it as evidence we may require combo drug treatments. If my genotype in regards to complement factors is as bad as I think it is, we may just get one, rogue factor under control before I am bit in the butt by another!
We have talked extensively about lamp stuff. Remember the real pronunciation of the word is more like “Lamp! Uh,Liz,you mab?”. Of course, you don’t need the question mark. I will, however, probably say it with that inflection forever. Thinking about breaking Elizabeth’s light is the only way I seem to be able to remember lampalizumab!
Plenty of other things mentioned but this is getting long. To be continued.
written September 8th, 2o17