Recently, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) announced that their clinical trial of stem cells was ramping up to begin the higher level dosing.  In that report, they noted that a new group of patients were receiving a single injection of 150,000 stem cell derived retinal cells.  In the same press release, they noted that there has been a trend toward perceived improved vision and one patient who had gained a measurable 7 letter improvement.

Last week, a casual remark by one of the principals of the company raised hopes that a much greater improvement had been observed.  One patient went from 20/400 to 20/40.

We know that people who eat fish several times a week reduce their risk of macular degeneration.  Omega-3 fish oil is being taken by many people for a variety of health reasons.  The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS 2) recently reported that they found no benefit to Omega-3 in their 5 year study.

Just prior to this, a group of researchers looked at patients in AREDS 1 and noticed something quite different for a particular group of AMD patients.

The development of a pill for macular degeneration has been watched closely for a number of years.  Early studies in healthy subjects showed the pill to be safe.  At the recent ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) meeting, the results of a study with AMD patients was announced.  The intent of the study was to confirm the safety of various doses of the pill and to identify the way the pill worked.