Advanced Rare Eye Disease Treatment Options and Therapies

The eyes are the most important yet often neglected part of the body. People simply assume their eyes will always be healthy and their vision near perfect, if not perfect, at all times. Often, people only pay attention to their eyes when they start experiencing vision problems. Unfortunately, rare eye disease treatment options and advanced therapies for age-related retinal diseases are hard to come by. Most eye specialists tell patients that there is no cure for such retinal diseases as retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy, to name a few. Before we get into rare eye disease treatment options, let us first take a look at the retinal diseases mentioned above, just to give you an idea of what they are and what to expect in a worst-case scenario.

Retinitis Pigmentosa Treatment

Retinitis pigmentosa or RP is not a singular type of eye disease but rather a group of rare genetic eye diseases that causes damage to the retina, which is that part of the eye that transmits light/neural signals to the brain, which the brain then sends back as visual images. When patients have RP, their peripheral vision and ability to see in the dark are impaired. This progresses over time until the patient may become what is considered "legally blind." This means they may have some vision left but aren't able to perform daily and routine tasks such as driving and reading. Conventional medicine says there is no cure for this rare eye disease. The best that eye specialists can do is treat other eye diseases that may develop from or are present alongside, RP, like astigmatism or cataract. In other words, rare eye disease treatment options for this condition primarily focus on other eye problems that the ophthalmologist may discover during an eye exam for RP.

Macular Degeneration Treatment

Macular degeneration is an eye disease that develops in older adults, which is why it is more popularly called age-related macular degeneration or AMD. This retinal disease is one of the most common eye diseases currently afflicting approximately 20 million people in the United States alone. Globally, it is predicted that by the year 2040, almost 300 million people will have developed AMD. Macular degeneration affects your central vision, which means you won't see what lies directly in your line of vision clearly. Ophthalmologists will tell you there is no cure for AMD. There are, however, therapies that may help slow down its progression, but severe vision loss will still be inevitable for most patients.

Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment

Diabetic retinopathy is a retinal disease that may develop in patients with diabetes. Diabetic patients with high or uncontrolled blood sugar levels are more prone to the disease compared to diabetic patients who are effectively managing their blood sugar levels. Basically, patients develop this when the eyes grow new blood vessels to compensate for the blood vessels that have been blocked because of high blood sugar. These new blood vessels, however, do not function as properly as the ones that were blocked. As for rare eye disease treatment options for diabetic retinopathy, there is no available cure. What eye specialists can do is to help delay its progression or prevent further damage to the retina.

What is Pittsburgh Eye Protocol (PEP)?

The Pittsburgh Eye Protocol rare eye disease treatment is a group of advanced therapies for rare eye diseases. As mentioned above, conventional medicine has not found any cure for any of these retinal diseases. Courtney Medical, however, has developed advanced therapies that may help restore or prevent complete vision loss in patients dealing with any chronic diseases. The Pittsburgh Eye Protocol or PEP is a 3-day program that features a unique set of effective, non-invasive therapies that result in a substantial improvement in a patient's vision within those three days. For questions or inquiries, please feel free to call (724) 942-3002.