Researchers Discover Promising New Therapy For Blinding Eye Disease

A preliminary clinical trial, conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that an investigational treatment for uveitis (pronounced yoo-vee-eye-tis) seems to have many fewer side effects than existing therapies, leading to improved quality of life for patients with this potentially blinding disease. Accounting for an estimated 10-15 percent of blindness in the United States, uveitis is a condition in which tissues in the eye become inflamed. If not properly treated, chronic inflammation causes scarring and leads to irreversible vision loss. Currently, people with severe uveitis must take steroids or other drugs that suppress the immune system to control the inflammation. Unfortunately, these powerful drugs can have many serious side effects, such as kidney dysfunction, glaucoma, osteoporosis, increased blood sugar, elevated blood pressure, and weight gain. Because their immune systems are compromised, patients must also limit contact with other people to avoid contagious illnesses. Obviously, current therapies for uveitis severely diminish a patient's quality of life.