Its obvious I know, but it is crucial to take your meds when you are supposed to, and as you are instructed to. Continue reading
Taking your Meds!
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Category Archives: Medical News
Zenapax (Daclizumab) discontinued
I read today that Roche has announced that it has discontinued Zenapax (daclizumab sterile concentrate for injection), an IgG1 monoclonal antibody. They say that the decision to discontinue Zenapax is due to the diminishing market demand and the availability of alternative treatments and is not due to any safety issue. The existing supply of Zenapax is expected to be depleted by January 2010 based on current demand.
Zenapax has been used successfully to treat a number of patients with birdshot in the US who have failed to control their birdshot with other medications or been unable to tolerate the side effects of other drugs. It will leave a number of people who are prescribed this, angry, as the news about the withdrawal of this drug was at short notice and their doctors will now have to find alternative medication. Often this will not be straightforward as this drug will have been prescribed only after a number of the more usual combinations have been tried and have failed.
I do not believe that this medication has been widely used in the UK for birdshot treatment but it is a major blow that one of our speciaist arsenal of drugs has been removed though no real good reason other than economics.
If you have been affected by this decision by Roche we would welcome your feedback.
Controversy of complementary therapy
http://www.osnsupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=51391
This is an interesting article that I found on the OSN Super Site concerning complementary therapies for ophthalmic problems.
Whilst it does not contain any information about birdshot treatment it provides food for thought and a reasonably balanced debate on the topic which I know many people with birdshot have an interest in. Continue reading
New development
As the body ages so do the eyes and people start needing glasses for reading and driving.
“But now a new technique has come on the market which promises not only to restore our sight but also to make it better than before and get us seeing in high definition. Continue reading
Birdshot in Families
The synopsis below summarises a study that has been carried out where there has been more than case of birdshot in a family. We are aware of couple of cases ourselves, and it is interesting to see it is being studied. If you have more than one member of your family with birdshot, we would be interested to know about it.
American journal of ophthalmology. 2009 Jun; 147(6):1042-7, 1047.e1 Clinical features, treatment methods, and evolution of birdshot chorioretinopathy in 5 different families. Trinh L, Bodaghi B, Fardeau C, Monin C, Labetoulle M, Soubrane G, Lehoang P Continue reading