
Degeneración macular relacionada con la edad
La degeneración macular relacionada con la edad, o AMD, es la causa principal de ceguera en personas de 55 años y mayores en países desarrollados. La condición puede conllevar a una pérdida significativa de la visión central.
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Sobre la enfermedad
La degeneración macular relacionada con la edad, comúnmente llamada AMD, es una enfermedad retiniana degenerativa que causa una pérdida progresiva de la visión central. AMD es la causa más común de ceguera en individuos mayores de 55 años en los países desarrollados. Más de 10 millones de personas en Estados Unidos tienen AMD.
La retina está cargada de fotorreceptores, las células que nos permiten ver. Los fotorreceptores convierten la luz en impulsos eléctricos, que son transferidos al cerebro a través del nervio óptico y convertidos en las imágenes que vemos. La mácula es una pequeña región en el centro de la retina que es rica en conos, los fotorreceptores que permiten a una persona percibir detalles finos (por ejemplo, leer o reconocer rostros), colores, y objetos durante el día o en condiciones con buena iluminación. La pérdida de la visión central con AMD ocurre cuando los fotorreceptores conos en la mácula se degeneran.
Los factores de riesgo más importantes de la AMD son el envejecimiento y fumar. Una dieta insalubre y la exposición sin protección a la luz solar también pueden incrementar el riesgo de contraer AMD. La genética también es un factor de riesgo.
Síntomas
Las personas con AMD pueden advertir primero borrosidad en su visión central, especialmente durante tareas como leer o tejer. Además, las líneas rectas pueden verse distorsionadas o torcidas. A medida que la enfermedad progresa, pueden formarse puntos ciegos dentro del campo central de la visión. En la mayoría de los casos, si un ojo tiene AMD, el otro ojo tiene la condición o está en riesgo de desarrollarla. La pérdida del alcance de la visión central varía, y puede depender del tipo de AMD: seca o húmeda.
La mayoría de las personas con AMD comienzan con la variante seca. En muchos casos, las personas no experimentarán pérdida de visión con esta condición. En algunos casos, la AMD seca puede progresar y causar diferentes grados de pérdida de la visión central. La AMD seca avanzada a veces es denominada atrofia geográfica.
El sello distintivo de la AMD seca es la acumulación de minúsculas proteínas y depósitos de grasa conocidos como drusas, debajo de la retina. Muchas personas tienen drusas, lo que no afecta su visión. Sin embargo, ciertos tipos de drusas pueden interferir en la salud de la mácula, causando una degeneración progresiva de las células fotorreceptoras y pérdida de visión.
Alrededor de un 10 a 15% de las personas con AMD seca desarrollará la variante húmeda en uno o ambos ojos. Con la AMD húmeda, crecen vasos sanguíneos anormales por debajo de la mácula. Estos vasos derraman sangre y fluido dentro de la mácula y dañan a las células fotorreceptoras. La AMD húmeda a menudo progresa rápidamente y causa una pérdida sustancial de la visión central si no es tratada.
Herencia
Los investigadores han descubierto que la genética puede tener un papel en el riesgo a contraer AMD. En 2005, tres grupos de investigadores, incluido un equipo armado por la Fundación, descubrieron que un gen llamado Complement Factor H (CFH) está vinculado con al menos un 50% de todos los casos de AMD. Desde ese descubrimiento, los investigadores han encontrado muchos otros genes vinculados a la AMD. CFH y muchos otros genes de la AMD están involucrados en el sistema inmune innato, el cual lucha contra la infección. Los científicos creen que la sobreactividad del sistema inmune innato incrementa el riesgo de AMD.
Mientras que la genética puede tener un papel en el riesgo de AMD, las personas con genética de bajo riesgo pueden obtener de igual manera la enfermedad. Asimismo, las personas con genética de alto riesgo podrían no contraer AMD.

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Tratamiento
El Estudio de Enfermedades del Ojo Relacionadas con la Edad (AREDS), una investigación fundamental llevada a cabo por el National Eye Institute (NEI), determinó que un suplemento específico de antioxidantes puede retrasar el progreso de la AMD. La formulación del AREDS2 es un suplemento de antioxidantes de venta libre recomendado para personas que estén en riesgo de desarrollar formas más avanzadas de AMD seca o húmeda.
La formulación de AREDS2 contiene los siguientes nutrientes:
500 miligramos (mg) de vitamina C
400 unidades internacionales de vitamina E
80 mg de zinc como óxido de zinc
2 mg de cobre como óxido cúprico
10 mg de luteína y 2 mg de zeaxantina
Hay ahora disponibles muchas terapias para la forma húmeda de la AMD. La mayoría involucran inyecciones oculares regulares para detener el crecimiento de vasos sanguíneos chorreantes que roban la visión.
EYLEA™ (alflibercept): El tratamiento de AMD húmedo de Regeneron, Eylea, bloquea el desarrollo de vasos sanguíneos no sanos debajo de la retina. Regeneron indica que en pruebas clínicas, Eylea trató la AMD húmeda tan efectivamente como Lucentis, pero con menos inyecciones intraoculares. Típicamente, los pacientes son tratados mensualmente con Eylea por tres meses y cada otro mes a partir de ahí. Eylea fue aprobada por la FDA en 2011.
Lucentis™ (ranibizumab): Desarrollado por Genentech, Lucentis es efectivo para reducir el riesgo de pérdida de visión debido al crecimiento anormal de vasos sanguíneos asociados con la AMD húmeda bajo la retina. El tratamiento fue aprobado por la FDA y está disponible desde 2006. Un estudio de dos años mostró que el 95% de las personas con AMD húmeda que recibió inyecciones mensuales de Lucentis no experimentó una pérdida significativa en su agudeza visual como el punto de partida. Genentech también informó una mejora visual moderada en un 24,8% de los participantes tratados con una dosis de 0,3 mg de Lucentis y un 33,8% de los participantes tratados con una dosis de 0,5 mg.
Una droga para cáncer colorrectal llamada Avastin®, una droga similar a Lucentis, ha sido utilizada “off-label” por algunos oftalmólogos para tratar la AMD húmeda. El NEI completó un estudio clínico de gran escala en dos años que compara Avastin y Lucentis. Los resultados del estudio mostraron que las drogas eran similares en seguridad y eficacia.
Pruebas de investigación y clínicas
Vea una lista de ensayos clínicos actuales, muchos posibles gracias al apoyo de la Fundación.
Next Section
Read the Most Recent Research on Degeneración macular relacionada con la edad
Latest News
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Feb 6, 2020
Foundation Insights Forum – January 31, 2020
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Nov 8, 2019
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Oct 2, 2019
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Mar 7, 2019
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Jul 19, 2018
Foundation Fighting Blindness Urges Congress to Pass ‘Eye-Bonds’ Legislation
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Latest Research
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Aug 22, 2023
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Feb 18, 2023
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May 13, 2022
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Feb 1, 2022
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Jan 28, 2022
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Apr 9, 2021
Foundation Invests $5.5 Million in Seven New Translational Research Projects
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Jan 26, 2021
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Jan 7, 2021
REGENXBIO’s Wet AMD Gene Therapy Moving into Phase 3 Trials
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May 28, 2020
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Positive Interim Clinical Trial Results for Adverum’s Wet AMD Gene Therapy
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Dec 17, 2019
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Oct 29, 2019
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Oct 10, 2019
FDA Approves New Wet AMD Treatment that can be Administered Every Three Months
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May 20, 2019
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May 9, 2019
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May 3, 2019
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Apr 30, 2019
REGENXBIO’s Gene Therapy for Wet AMD Performing Encouragingly in Human Study
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Mar 23, 2019
First Gene Therapy for Dry AMD Moves into Clinical Trial in UK
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Jan 29, 2019
The Foundation Receives a $100,000 Research Grant from Sofia Sees Hope
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Nov 2, 2018
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Sep 18, 2018
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Sep 11, 2018
FFB Congratulates RPE65 Gene Therapy Researchers for Champalimaud Award
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Aug 22, 2018
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Aug 15, 2018
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Aug 6, 2018
FFB Funding More than $2 Million in New Research
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Jul 20, 2018
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Jul 5, 2018
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VISIONS2018 Live Stream
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May 4, 2018
ARVO 2018: Port Delivery System Designed to Reduce Burden of Lucentis Injections for Wet AMD
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May 3, 2018
ARVO 2018: Dr. Stephen Daiger Reports on the State of Genetic Testing for Inherited Retinal Diseases
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May 2, 2018
ARVO 2018: Dr. Steve Rose Reports on CRISPR/Cas9 for Inherited Retinal Diseases
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May 1, 2018
ARVO 2018: Studies Show Mediterranean Diet May Lower Advanced AMD Risk
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Apr 25, 2018
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Apr 16, 2018
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Mar 27, 2018
Vision Improvements Reported in Early Stem Cell Trial for Wet AMD
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Jan 17, 2018
Clinical Trial to Launch for System Combining Optogenetics and Eyewear
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Jan 9, 2018
Top Retinal Research Advances for 2017
An exciting year in fighting blindness.
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Dec 20, 2017
History Is Made: FDA Approves Spark's Vision-Restoring Gene Therapy
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Nov 21, 2017
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Oct 13, 2017
FDA Committee Unanimously Recommends Approval for Spark's RPE65 Gene Therapy - Final Decision Due in January 2018
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Sep 27, 2017
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Jul 26, 2017
Scientists Receive $25 Million to Develop a Vision-Restoring System that Connects to the Brain
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Jul 25, 2017
Foundation Fighting Blindness and 4D Molecular Therapeutics Partner to Boost Retinal Gene Therapy Development
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Jul 24, 2017
FFB-Funded Scientists Report on Nine Promising Translational Research Efforts
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May 23, 2017
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May 8, 2017
FFB Funding Helps Retinal Genetics Lab Secure $2 Million Investment
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Mar 22, 2017
Dr. Eliot Berson, Pioneer in Vitamin A Therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa, Passes Away
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Mar 16, 2017
Unregulated Stem-Cell Therapy Causes Severe Vision Loss for Three Florida Women
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Feb 17, 2017
AGTC Leverages Funding from the Foundation to Move Promising Treatments into Clinical Trials
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Dec 21, 2016
FFB-CRI Leads Effort to Identify Outcome Measures for Therapies in Clinical Trials
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Oct 18, 2016
Building a Wiring Diagram for the Retina to Help Researchers Save and Restore Vision
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Oct 11, 2016
Nobel-Prize-Winning Stem-Cell Researcher Delivers Keynote at FFB-Funded Conference in Kyoto
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Oct 6, 2016
Embrace Your Exceptions: A Mantra for Understanding Retinal-Disease Inheritance
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Aug 18, 2016
Optogenetic Therapy Takes First Step Forward in Clinical Trial
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Aug 2, 2016
Pixium Vision Reports Progress in Development of Two Advanced Bionic Retina Systems
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Jul 1, 2016
VISIONS 2016 — Dr. Shomi Bhattacharya Wins FFB Award for Gaining an Understanding of Variations in Vision Loss
At VISIONS 2016, FFB’s national conference, the Foundation honored him with its Ed Gollob Board of Directors Award for breakthrough research conducted within the past year.
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Jul 1, 2016
VISIONS 2016 - Dr. Richard Weleber Receives FFB's Highest Research Honor, Recognized in Touching Video
Dr. Weleber became the 10th recipient of the Foundation’s highest honor, named after FFB co-founder Lulie Gund, during the opening lunch of the VISIONS 2016 conference.
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Nov 11, 2015
Past Sun Exposure Increases AMD Risk
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Oct 8, 2015
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Jul 28, 2015
First AMD Patient Receives Argus II Bionic Retina
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Jun 27, 2015
VISIONS 2015 — Dr. José Sahel Receives Foundation's Most Prestigious Research Honor
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Jun 26, 2015
VISIONS 2015 — Dr. Shannon Boye Receives FFB Award for Excellence in Gene-Therapy Research
Dr. Boye received the Foundation’s Board of Director’s Award, which was presented at VISIONS 2015, FFB’s annual conference, for achievements in retinal research.
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May 19, 2015
ARVO 2015 Highlight: The National Eye Institute Invests $4 Million in Audacious-Goals Research
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May 12, 2015
ARVO 2015 Highlight: A Cut-and-Paste Approach to Fixing Retinal-Disease Genes
One of the hot topics at ARVO this year is a rapidly advancing gene-therapy approach called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR.
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Aug 1, 2014
How Evolution is Leading to Gene Therapies for More Retinal Diseases
An innovative genetic-engineering approach called “directed evolution” to find optimal gene-delivery systems based on adeno-associated viruses (AAVs).
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Jun 21, 2014
VISIONS 2014 — My Retina Tracker: Track Your Vision and Drive the Research
The powerful and secure system enables patients to keep track of their clinical care and vision changes. At the same time, it enables scientists to search the “de-identified” (i.e., anonymous) patient information to study conditions and identify targets for treatments, preventions and cures.
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Jun 21, 2014
VISIONS 2014 — The Multi-Talented Dr. Shannon Boye
Dr. Boye and her research team received a $900,000 grant for a gene therapy project targeting Leber congenital amaurosis.
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May 8, 2014
ARVO 2014: European Collaboration Developing Cross-Cutting, Vision-Saving Therapies
Simply put, they’re creating therapies that can save vision in as many people as possible, independent of the genetic cause of disease.
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Apr 8, 2014
Total Blindness and Non-24 Sleep Disorder
Non-24 is a very rare condition affecting many (but not all) people who are totally blind and have absolutely no light perception. Their circadian clocks become out of sync as a result.
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Dec 31, 2013
Nouvelle Lumière: French Bionic Retina in a Human Study
The French retinal implant developer Pixium quietly launched a clinical trial for its Intelligent Retinal Implant System 1 (IRIS1) in France, Austria and Germany.
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Jul 26, 2013
Researchers Move Closer to Getting a Complete Genetic Picture of the Retina
Identifying the genes and proteins that play a major role in retinal health and vision is an important step in finding preventions and cures for degenerative diseases.
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Jun 12, 2013
Patient Registries Help Advance Research for Rare Diseases
Many registries enable patients to collect and track information about their health, so they can take an active role in managing their care.
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May 10, 2013
Grow Your Own: Harnessing Muller Glia for Retinal Regeneration
There’s hope for retinal regeneration for humans, thanks to Foundation-funded researcher Dr. Thomas Reh, who is investigating how to derive new photoreceptors from retinal cells called Muller glia.
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May 7, 2013
Retinal Regeneration is Major Focus of NEI's Audacious Goal
The goal, “to regenerate the neurons and neural connections in the eye and visual system,” is exactly what people with retinal diseases need to save and restore their vision.
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Apr 30, 2013
Researcher Revolutionized Fight Against Blindness and Cancer
A profile on Dr. Robert Langer, a medical researcher who has received dozens of awards, accolades and honorary degrees, including, recently, FFB’s Visionary Award.
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Mar 8, 2013
Staying Alive: Saving Retinal Cells to Preserve Vision
Sometimes, saving vision simply comes down to keeping retinal cells alive, or at least slowing their degeneration.
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Feb 18, 2013
History in the Making
More good news about treatments and technological advances for restoring vision for people with retinal diseases.
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Jan 15, 2013
Why Face Recognition Can Be Difficult with Central Vision Loss
Diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, cone-rod dystrophy and Stargardt disease cause scotomas, or blind spots, which often have devastating effects on central vision. They cause gaps in a person’s visual field, making it difficult to see words in a book, images on a computer monitor or TV and the features of someone’s face.
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Jul 27, 2012
Tempering the Immune System to Save Vision
Great progress is being made in identifying targets for therapies, including using the body’s own protective systems to keep the photoreceptors alive.
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Jul 17, 2012
Tiny Implantable Telescope Can Restore Some Central Vision in AMD
Known as the implantable miniature telescope (IMT), the device is surgically placed in the eye, where it focuses images onto the area of the patient’s retina that is still functional.
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Jun 19, 2012
Have I Got a Cure for You! Debunking an Alleged Treatment on the Internet
How do you know if a treatment is legit? There should be preclinical and clinical trial data published in a peer-reviewed journal on research for the treatment.
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May 2, 2023
Mental Health Awareness: Shattering the Stigma
Athletes around the world navigate the challenges of daily life and rigorous training, but what if a factor came into play that you had less control over? What if, one day, something changed in your vision?
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Apr 10, 2023
Racing for AMD
Sean was diagnosed with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in his 40s. Now Sean is using his AMD as an opportunity to educate others about the spectrum of blinding diseases while fundraising for the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
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Nov 22, 2021
Racing for a Reason
Sean Teare has completed a marathon and a triathlon as DIY fundraisers for the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
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Dec 3, 2020
Janssen Acquires Rights to Novel Gene Therapy, Pioneering Treatment Solutions for Late-Stage Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Acquisition significantly expands Janssen’s eye disease portfolio and strengthens its gene therapy capabilities. Late-stage AMD affects millions of people with no effective treatments currently available .
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Feb 5, 2020
Al Linde “Keeps on Rolling” with Macular Degeneration
Al Linde has learned to “just roll with it” throughout his life to overcome many challenges.