A NEW treatment to prevent blindness caused by an age-related disease is to be developed by Ulster University.
The university has secured almost £100,000 from the Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust to produce an eye drop treament for sufferers of age related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD, a common cause of severe eye problems for older people, is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide.
AMD is currently treated by an uncomfortable injection into the eyeball, which can lead to other complications such as infections. However not all AMD is treatable as yet.
The injection also has to be administered at a hospital clinic every two months until the disease is brought under control.
AMD is thought to have caused blindness in more than 250,000 people in the UK alone.
The new eye drops will aim to reduce the symptoms and stop the disease from getting progressively worse.
Ulster University’s Dr Bridgeen Callan said: "The risk of infection from the current injection based treatment can lead to other eye complications and the invasive nature can cause pain and discomfort.
"Our research will focus on adapting the drug to make it more adhesive. This will allow the drug to be administered by eye drops that cannot be washed away by tears."
Dr Callan added: "The potential for treating this chronic disease in this way is huge and if successful could be used to treat countless patients in the UK and around the world."
