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Photobiomodulation for Early/Intermediate Dry AMD
I was doing some research on up to date treatments for intermediate dry AMD. I found photobiomodulation was approved by FDA in November 2024. It's been successful in treating both early and intermediate dry AMD. Best for visual acuity of 20/120 or better. I still have 20/20 vision 🙏. I'm going to contact my retinal specialist tomorrow.
Has anyone heard about this from their specialist or regular opthalmologist? It sounds like a terrific leap forward to curing this horrible disease. Any thoughts or knowledge on this subject is greatly appreciated.
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@kaye46
Looks like 4 treatments within 10 days are required and cost is 499 a treatment so like 2000 CAD yearly not paid by insurance. Again like photomodulation not a cure. Must be repeated each year.
A recurring $2,000/year therapy with no proven evidence it stops progression. You can see some lines better on the eye chart but just temporarily and therapy must be repeated.
Some people experience noticeable short-term visual improvements.
It is unknown whether these improvements correlate with slower disease progression.
Query --BUT what if you did both photo and micro together? Would those combined therapies work together actually slow progression? Not FDA approved in the US -clinical trials.
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Hug
1 ReactionHas anyone been treated with this new therapy? My doctor just recommended this for my advanced stage of dry AMD.
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Hug
1 ReactionI’m also a candidate, but Medicare doesn’t cover…it’s expensive…and am unaware of any studies that suggest it’s beneficial. Hopeful for improvement in all of these…
Started taking AREDS 2 supplements as recommended.
https://www.nei.nih.gov/eye-health-information/eye-conditions-and-diseases/age-related-macular-degeneration/nutritional-supplements-age-related-macular-degeneration
I’ve been taking AREDS for 15 years. It has probably prolonged my good vision until now.
@sstonecliffe and @mikewyatt, I moved your posts to this active discussion so you can connect with other members talking about light therapy for dry macular degeneration.
- Photobiomodulation for Early/Intermediate Dry AMD https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/photobiomodulation-for-earlyintermediate-dry-amd/
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1 ReactionDo you have a reference source for the comment, “It's been successful in treating both early and intermediate dry AMD. Best for visual acuity of 20/120 or better.”?
@mikewyatt , I'm tagging @prayingtolucy to make sure they see your question about a reference citation for the comment in the original post.
This article from the American Academy of Opthamology explains more about the approval and light therapy.
- FDA Authorizes Light Therapy for Dry AMD https://www.aao.org/eye-health/news/light-therapy-photobiomodulation-dry-amd-ga
Referring to the attached presentation by Dr. Cabell which discussed the benefits of the longer wavelength spectrum of light. I am not qualified to make any conclusions. However, my take and intuition is that any broad spectrum light that we experience, albeit from sunrise, open flame, clear glass incandescent lights, etc… could possibly be beneficial. So, I try to get my sunrise light, but I also enjoy candles and clear glass incandescents on a dimmer every morning with coffee and music. I know my soul benefits, and possibly my eyes… https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ia8fg9oq2vtoncs1nau7l/Dr.-Cabell-Health-Talk.pdf