World Sight Day is observed annually on the second Thursday of October. This global event coordinated by The International Agency for the Promotion of Blindness (IAPB) in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) is meant to raise public awareness of blindness and vision impairment as major international public health issues. World Sight Day aims to influence governments/ministers of health...
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Macular Week is all about sensitizing and informing patients, associations, professionals and society of latest achievements on macular degenerative pathologies. In this publication, we will focus on the news on orphan drugs that are currently in the clinical or preclinical phase for the treatment of Stargardt disease. Stargardt disease, the most common inherited macular dystrophy, is characterized by the progressive...
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We firmly believe that the achievements of women in the field of hereditary eye diseases have to be made visible and acknowledged worldwide. For this reason, and to celebrate the International Women's Day, we have interviewed Marcela Ciccioli, President of Stargardt APNES Retina Argentina. Marcela is a tireless fighter, a source of energy and a beacon of hope. Her firm...
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Genes are DNA sequences that contain information for the synthesis of proteins and they are composed of exonic and intronic sequences. The exons possess the information used for the protein synthesis, whereas the introns, although they do not contain information translated into protein, they play an important role to ensure their correct formation. Each gene has several exons interspersed between...
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The December supplement (2018) of "El País" has been devoted entirely to disseminating knowledge about rare diseases. Among other topics, it has highlighted the importance of prevention, early diagnosis, the development of orphan drugs and genetic diagnosis. One of the articles in the supplement is dedicated to rare diseases that affect the retina and among them describes the clinical symptoms...
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Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are a broad group of neurodegenerative disorders associated with reduced or deteriorating visual system. In the retina, cells are under constant oxidative stress due to several environmental factors, particularly light exposure and physiological stress, making photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells more susceptible to cell death. Inherited mutations in relevant genes that contribute to citoprotective mechanisms such...
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