Macular Society

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The Macular Society is a UK [1] [2] charity that offers support to anyone affected by central vision loss.

Contents

Many of the charity's members have age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but its services are open to people with various retinal conditions, including myopic macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and inherited retinal dystrophies like Stargardt disease, Best disease, and Sorsby fundus dystrophy.

The society coordinates activities across the UK from its headquarters in Andover, Hampshire. Its primary goal is to combat macular disease by funding research, providing a range of support services, and raising awareness of eye health. [3]

Services

To combat isolation, loneliness and mental ill-health among people with sight loss, the society provides several free services. These include:

History

Patrons [7]

Former patrons include Peter Sallis, Denis Norden and Eric Sykes.

Related Research Articles

This is a partial list of human eye diseases and disorders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macular degeneration</span> Medical condition associated with vision loss

Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration, is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, some people experience a gradual worsening of vision that may affect one or both eyes. While it does not result in complete blindness, loss of central vision can make it hard to recognize faces, drive, read, or perform other activities of daily life. Visual hallucinations may also occur.

The Lions Eye Institute (LEI) is an Australian medical research institute affiliated with the University of Western Australia. It was established in 1983 with support of the Lions Clubs of Western Australia and headquartered in the Perth suburb of Nedlands, Western Australia. The LEI is a not-for-profit centre of excellence that combines an ophthalmic clinic with scientific discovery developing techniques for the prevention of blindness and the reduction of pain from blinding eye conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cone dystrophy</span> Medical condition

A cone dystrophy is an inherited ocular disorder characterized by the loss of cone cells, the photoreceptors responsible for both central and color vision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choroideremia</span> Medical condition

Choroideremia is a rare, X-linked recessive form of hereditary retinal degeneration that affects roughly 1 in 50,000 males. The disease causes a gradual loss of vision, starting with childhood night blindness, followed by peripheral vision loss and progressing to loss of central vision later in life. Progression continues throughout the individual's life, but both the rate of change and the degree of visual loss are variable among those affected, even within the same family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitelliform macular dystrophy</span> Medical condition

Vitelliform macular dystrophy is an irregular autosomal dominant eye disorder which can cause progressive vision loss. This disorder affects the retina, specifically cells in a small area near the center of the retina called the macula. The macula is responsible for sharp central vision, which is needed for detailed tasks such as reading, driving, and recognizing faces. The condition is characterized by yellow, slightly elevated, round structures similar to the yolk of an egg.

Stargardt disease is the most common inherited single-gene retinal disease. In terms of the first description of the disease, it follows an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern, which has been later linked to bi-allelic ABCA4 gene variants (STGD1). However, there are Stargardt-like diseases with mimicking phenotypes that are referred to as STGD3 and STGD4, and have a autosomal dominant inheritance due to defects with ELOVL4 or PROM1 genes, respectively. It is characterized by macular degeneration that begins in childhood, adolescence or adulthood, resulting in progressive loss of vision.

Ranibizumab, sold under the brand name Lucentis among others, is a monoclonal antibody fragment (Fab) created from the same parent mouse antibody as bevacizumab. It is an anti-angiogenic that is approved to treat the "wet" type of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and macular edema due to branch retinal vein occlusion or central retinal vein occlusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bestrophin 1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Bestrophin-1 (Best1) is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the BEST1 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maculopathy</span> Term for pathological conditions effecting the macula

A maculopathy is any pathological condition of the macula, an area at the centre of the retina that is associated with highly sensitive, accurate vision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foundation Fighting Blindness</span>

The mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness is to fund research that will lead to the prevention, treatment and cures for the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease and related conditions. These diseases, which affect more than 10 million Americans and millions more throughout the world, often lead to severe vision loss or complete blindness.

David Anthony Newsome M.D. FARVO was a scientist, ophthalmologist, inventor, and author. He studied the treatment of age-related macular degeneration and proposed the usefulness of zinc supplements to slow the rate of vision loss from age-related macular degeneration.

Retinal gene therapy holds a promise in treating different forms of non-inherited and inherited blindness.

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is the University of Miami School of Medicine's ophthalmic care, research, and education center. The institute is based in the Health District of Miami, Florida, and has been ranked consistently as the best eye hospital and vision research center in the nation.

The Vision Institute is a research center in the Quinze-Vingts National Eye Hospital in Paris, France. It is one of several such centers in Europe on eye diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypotrichosis with juvenile macular dystrophy</span> Medical condition

Hypotrichosis with juvenile macular dystrophy is an extremely rare congenital disease characterized by sparse hair growth (hypotrichosis) from birth and progressive macular corneal dystrophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert MacLaren</span> British ophthalmologist

Robert E. MacLaren FMedSci FRCOphth FRCS FACS VR is a British ophthalmologist who has led pioneering work in the treatment of blindness caused by diseases of the retina. He is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford and Honorary Professor of Ophthalmology at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. He is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Oxford Eye Hospital. He is also an Honorary Consultant Vitreo-retinal Surgeon at the Moorfields Eye Hospital. MacLaren is an NIHR Senior Investigator, or lead researcher, for the speciality of Ophthalmology. In addition, he is a member of the research committee of Euretina: the European Society of Retina specialists, Fellow of Merton College, in Oxford and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atul Kumar (ophthalmologist)</span> Indian ophthalmologist

Atul Kumar is an Indian ophthalmologist who is currently the Chief & Professor of Ophthalmology at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences (RPC-AIIMS), the national apex ophthalmic centre at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was awarded the Padma Shri award in January 2007 for his services to the medical field. He specializes in vitreoretinal surgery and also heads the Vitreo-Retinal, Uvea and ROP services at RPC-AIIMS.

Macular scarring is formation of the fibrous tissue in place of the normal retinal tissue on the macular area of the retina which provides the sharpest vision in the eyes. It is usually a result of an inflammatory or infectious process.. Some other examples of the etiology include macular pucker, macular hole, and age-related macular degeneration. Macular dystrophies and telangiectasia are among the less common causes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stem cell therapy for macular degeneration</span> Use of stem cells to treat macular degeneration

Stem cell therapy for macular degeneration is the use of stem cells to heal, replace dead or damaged cells of the macula in the retina. Stem cell based therapies using bone marrow stem cells as well as retinal pigment epithelial transplantation are being studied. A number of trials have occurred in humans with encouraging results.

References

  1. "Macular Disease Society, Registered Charity no. 1001198 in England".
  2. "Macular Disease Society, Registered Charity no. SC042015 in Scotland".
  3. "Charity overview". charity-commission.gov.uk. 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  4. "Surgeon's patients were 'deliberately misled'". BBC News. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  5. "Awards for Excellence". www.macularsociety.org. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  6. "Meet the 2020 winners". www.aop.org.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  7. "Patrons". www.macularsociety.org. Retrieved 10 March 2021.