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Child Diagnosed With Stargardt Disease. Wears Glasses. Any Treatment To Cure This?
Sir:
My son has been diagnosed with Stargardt disease and has been said no treatment has been discovered yet for this condition. He is only 8 years old and he is managing somewhat using both eyes wearing glasses. We are very much worried about his future. Is there any other treatment for improving his vision? Please help
My son has been diagnosed with Stargardt disease and has been said no treatment has been discovered yet for this condition. He is only 8 years old and he is managing somewhat using both eyes wearing glasses. We are very much worried about his future. Is there any other treatment for improving his vision? Please help
Fri, 28 Jun 2013
Hi
Thanks for your query.
First of all you must understand that Stargardt disease is a form of macular degeneration and causes progressive vision loss characterized by central vision loss early in life. It is an inherited disorder. The vision loss progresses with age leading to wavy vision, blind spots, blurriness, impaired colour vision, difficulty adapting to dim lighting and ultimately blindness.
Although there is currently no treatment for Stargardt disease, individuals may benefit from the use of low vision aids and orientation and mobility training. Sunglasses or Tinted glasses are sometimes prescribed to prevent additional damage to eyes. Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) stem cell treatment is in experimental level with promising results in animal models. Research work is going on with an altered form of Vitamin A to prevent formation of Vitamin A dimer aggregation in the retina thought to be associated with Stargardt disease.
The American Macular Degeneration Foundation recommends that people with Stargardt's or a history of the eye disease in close family members obtain genetic counselling before starting their own families.
Hope this helps.
Take care.
Thanks for your query.
First of all you must understand that Stargardt disease is a form of macular degeneration and causes progressive vision loss characterized by central vision loss early in life. It is an inherited disorder. The vision loss progresses with age leading to wavy vision, blind spots, blurriness, impaired colour vision, difficulty adapting to dim lighting and ultimately blindness.
Although there is currently no treatment for Stargardt disease, individuals may benefit from the use of low vision aids and orientation and mobility training. Sunglasses or Tinted glasses are sometimes prescribed to prevent additional damage to eyes. Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) stem cell treatment is in experimental level with promising results in animal models. Research work is going on with an altered form of Vitamin A to prevent formation of Vitamin A dimer aggregation in the retina thought to be associated with Stargardt disease.
The American Macular Degeneration Foundation recommends that people with Stargardt's or a history of the eye disease in close family members obtain genetic counselling before starting their own families.
Hope this helps.
Take care.
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