by C. Stephen Foster M.D.

This article is included by the kind permission of Professor C Stephen Foster of the Ocular  Immunology and Uveitis Foundation and Massachussettes Eye Research and Surgery Institution, Boston.   It’s mainly about appropriate treatments  for  auto-immune forms of Uveitis in the USA,  but a lot of what it says is relevant for people with Birdshot Chorioretinopathy in Britain.

“Uveitis of the eye is inflammation inside the eye, specifically affecting one or more of the three parts of the eye that make up the uvea: the iris (the colored part of the eye), the ciliary body (behind the iris, responsible for manufacturing the fluid inside the eye) and the choroid (the vascular lining tissue underneath the retina). Continue reading →

The link to a PDF file below is to an interesting booklet produced by European Genetic Alliances Network.  It answers questions about what Personalised healthcare is.

“In one sense , personalised healthcare is nothing new.  It is what doctors have aimed to provide for their patients through the exercise of their clinical judgement, backed up by specialist knowledge and the use of appropriate diagnostic procedures.

However, as research advances and we begin to understand more about he complexity of common disease, it is clear that a standard approach to the treatment of various  diseases and disorders does not yield the results patients need.  Increasingly therapies are now being selected based on an understanidng of the underlying genetic components of a condition and how these interact.”

The PDF link will tell you more.

Rea

Back in March the world renowned uveitis expert,  Dr C  Stephen Foster M.D  from the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation, MERSI, Boston   http://www.mersi.us gave a lecture at Gresham College, London, on Inflammatory Eye Disease.  It was part of the series that Professor William Ayliffe is giving about the Eye, Vision and Perception.

For those who were unlucky and missed it, here is a link to the audio clip of  Dr Stephen Foster’s Gresham Lecture.

A few members of Birdshot Uveitis Society decided to meet up and go to the lecture together.  For most of us it was the first time we had ever met another person with birdshot.  One member wrote to us afterwards and said he was surprised what a positive effect this meeting had on him.  This is what he said:-

“I just wanted to say thank you for alerting me to the talk by Dr Foster which despite the pictures was most interesting. I also wanted to say how great it was to meet others with Birdshot.  I didn’t think it would make much difference,  psychologically, to meet others with the same condition.

I realise now that it has made a big difference and that I got a sense of relief knowing that there are others out there going through the same, and worse (or better), than me.   I hadn’t expected the feeling to be quite so strong. ”

We are very much hoping that others will feel the same and benefit  by coming along to the Birdshot Day we are holding on September 11th.   See  Patient Day for further details.

Annie and Rea