Eat Green, Breathe Clean, See Well

MDS again participated in the launch of the AMD Awareness Week organized at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital last Saturday. The theme this year is “prevention”, and the tagline (which we should all take to heart) is “Eat Green, Breathe Clean, See Well”.

The week was launched at the KTPH Auditorium, with Sharon Siddique and Anny Leow representing MDS. We received a partner plaque from Mr Liak Teng Lit, Group CEO of Alexandra Health System.

One of the most interesting morning presentations was an introduction to the initiatives of the Guide Dogs Association. They are beginning a new programme called “Eye” Live Independently, to promote skills for safe and independent living.

MDS hosted an afternoon session, which was attended by 100 or so participants. The session included short presentations on topics of interest: Food for your Eyes, Prevention of Falls, and tips on overcoming the psychological impact of AMD diagnosis. This was followed by a cooking demonstration, featuring Lutein and Zeaxanthin.

Two of the afternoon’s activities were especially memorable for MDS. First was the opportunity to hear Mr Narindar Sharma, CEO of AMD Alliance International. MDS is a member of AMDAI, and, because of the time zones, Narindar noted that Singapore was the first to “launch” the AMD Week worldwide!

Secondly, Dr Ken Fong, from Malaysia, has just published a VERY interesting book called “Food for Your Eyes”. It fills a much-needed gap for Asian recipes using Asian ingredients. It is written and tested by Dr Fong and his wife, who is a dietitian. Call MDS at 62387387 if you are interested in purchasing a copy.

Dr Fong has generously presented MDS with two complimentary copies of the book, which we intend to give away “lucky draw” style at our MDS outing in November.

Finally, a last piece of good news. Soo Mien, Anny, Kym and Sharon (from Exco) attended the afternoon presentations, and we managed to chat with many attendees who expressed an interest in MDS. We gave away over 150 brochures, so we will hope that this will translate into new members.

AMDAI supplement

Check out the supplement produced by the AMD Alliance International in The Times of London newspaper. Quite a few interesting articles. 

Click here to read it. 

International AMD Awareness Week

International AMD Awareness Week launches a two year program raising awareness of AMD, its risk factors and its prevention. 

Click here to see a list of resources which may be used by patients, care-givers, patient organisations, and those wishing to minimise the risk for themselves and loved ones of suffering from this debilitating condition.

Singapore's AMD Awareness Week is held in conjunction with the International AMD Awareness Week. The Singapore event will be launched on Sept 22 and MDS is a partner in the annual event. 

Go to our website for more details. 

Can we ever cure blindness?

A 46-year-old man called Miikka spotted a simple spelling mistake. A group of scientists had misspelled his name as Mika. He told them as much, and they responded with delight. Why? It was the clearest evidence yet that Miikka, who had been blind for many years, might be able to see again. 

This miracle is thanks to a pioneering chip implanted in his retina. Just as cochlear implants have restored hearing to people once considered deaf, devices like this are being developed that can restore sight to the blind.

Miikka suffers from a particular form of blindness called retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disease that gradually destroys the light-detecting cells of the retina. As the cells die, a person’s field of view begins to collapse from the edges. Miikka’s case was so advanced that he could only sense the direction of a bright light, and he needed a cane to get around.

Click here to read more of this interesting and comprehensive article in Discover magazine on the various experiments being undertaken to try to find a cure for blindness. The points raised were touched on our speaker Mandeep Singh in a MDS event earlier this month. 

New MDS committee

The Macular Degeneration Society held its fifth Annual General Meeting last Saturday at the Old Alexandra Hospital. Yes, we are five years old! 

The committee members were re-elected to another two-year term. They are Sharon Siddique, Peh Shing Huei, Lee Soo Mien, Anny Leow, Kym Ong and Lim Hsiu Mei. Sharon and Shing Huei stay on as president and secretary of the society respectively. Soo Mien replaces Kym as the treasurer. Our constitution stipulates that the treasurer cannot serve more than one term consecutively. 

No new members came forward to join the committee as volunteers. We hope interested members can consider helping us to grow MDS, build awareness of macular degeneration and contribute to the education of Singaporeans on this little-known eye disease. 

Drop anyone of the committee members an e-mail if you are interested. You can find our e-mail addresses and our profiles on the MDS website. Thanks. 

Cautious optimism towards stem cell treatments

We are on the way but it will take a few more years of scientific research before stem cells can be available as treatment for patients, said ophthalmologist Mandeep Singh in a talk to the Macular Degeneration Society members in Singapore last Saturday. 

The Singaporean researcher at Oxford University sounded an upbeat, but cautious, note, urging MDS members to be very cautious about pursuing stem cell treatments at this time, as many of these are still in the research phase and not yet fully approved for clinical use.

It was the first time the MDS has had a talk on stem cell therapy, which has been making strong progress in recent years in the treatment of blindness due to retinal degeneration. 

Dr Mandeep Singh is a consultant in the Department of Ophthalmology of the National University Hospital in Singapore. He is currently pursuing a PhD in ophthalmology at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. 

Among other reasons, he shared with the 35 members that he left for UK to do research on stem cells after learning that more than 50 per cent of the blindness in the developed world is caused by damage of one cell type in the eye. It was clear, he said, that the way forward to treating blindness will lie with cell therapy.

Here are some key points he shared with us: 

1) The world's embryonic stem cells trial on a human was for the eye. It took place in January this year. Click here to read more.   

2) There are two main ways which we want stem cells to help the eye - rescue and replace. Rescue means to slow the decline of the degeneration and replace is to bring functioning vision back. 

3) What has been done? The rescue method has been tried. It is still too early to know the results. 

4) What do we not want the stem cells to do? Create an immune reaction. Stem cells are foreign objects introduced into the body and the body will rebel and fight it. If the reaction is severe, it could damage the body and even your pre-existing cells. 

5) What else do we not want the stem cells to do? Lead to cancer cells. Click here to read more on this.

6) A new exciting sub-field has been the development in iPS cells, or Induced pluripotent stem cells, which is to take an adult cell (as opposed to an embryonic cell and its accompanied ethical concerns) and try to "record backwards", bringing back the original "baby cell". This research started about five years ago and is moving forward. 

7) When reading articles and internet information about stem cells, be careful to see how factual the content is and how much is based on good scientific evidence. There may be dangerous side effects if non-approved treatments are given, in centres which are not regulated well. Some may say that there are many commercial interests in this field so it may be good to be slightly wary. Click here to read a South China Morning Post feature on the untested and wild "stem cell treatments" offered in China.

8) In short, are proper, legalised and approved stem cells treatment available in clinic for the retina now? No. Should we seek for such "miracle" treatment today? No. But we are on the way. 

9) Quote of the day: "Only listen to some guy who sounds a little scared." 

Researchers shed light on high myopia

The Straits Times

July 29, 2012

By Chang Ai-Lien

Researchers in Singapore have for the first time discovered genes associated with super high myopia that afflicts one in seven young people. They hope to have fine-tuned, in a few years' time, a test to identify such sufferers for early treatment - before they become severely myopic and at risk of going blind.

'The idea is to produce a test for several significant genes and combine it with behavioural traits, so we can single out which child will become myopic early and suffer a rapid progression of the condition,' said Professor Saw Seang Mei, vice-dean of research at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

Special eye drops, contact lenses or spectacles could then be used to retard the progress.

'We have solved most of the puzzle,' said Prof Saw, who is also with the university's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.

She was involved in the massive research effort to uncover the genetic basis of myopia, together with scientists from institutions such as the Singapore Eye Research Institute, the Genome Institute of Singapore and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. The project combined the results of three large studies on 5,000 myopic adults and children here, comparing their genetic make-up to those without the condition.

It has identified several particular locations in a person's DNA associated with high myopia of 600 degrees and above, and future tests will home in on these genetic variations. When someone has myopia or short-sightedness, he sees near objects clearly but distant objects appear blurred. This is because the focal point of a visual image falls in front of the retina instead of directly on it, and the eyeball may be too long from front to back.

One of the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness, myopia poses a significant public health burden in the region. Asia is experiencing a myopia epidemic, particularly in its big cities. Rates of the visual defect have been rising over the past two decades. In Singapore, the myopia capital of the world, eight in 10 people are short-sighted by the time they are 18.

Short-sightedness, typically caused by an elongated eyeball, is the result of both genes and the environment. Children here are more likely to spend their time reading or using the computer instead of going outdoors and being exposed to sunlight, which encourages the body to produce the chemical dopamine, which can prevent the eyeball from becoming elongated.

'With a predictive tool that combines gene tests with environmental factors, we can recommend the treatment for those who need it the most,' said Prof Saw.

The latest work, a combined effort of 15 local and international groups, was published in the journal PLoS Genetics last month. By the end of next year, the team expects to have a blueprint of the main genetic variants linked to myopia, after including data from the Consortium of Refractive Error and Myopia, an international consortium of 40 studies. The team expects to have a pilot test for high myopia ready in two to three years.

Associate Professor Teo Yik-Ying, head of the public health school's biostatistics domain, said: 'We are in a good position to be among the leaders in developing such tools because we have the technology and population diversity to do so.

'With our ethnic diversity, our population represents half the world.'