cataract surgery and macular degeneration

specifics: I'm 52 years old, had mild dry macular degeneration in
both eyes. Mild cataract in right eye, more severe cataract in left
eye. I had cataract surgery in left eye in Dec 2004. Went to
opthomologist yesterday and he reported that the ARMD has gotten worse
in the left eye and remained the same in the right. He told me there
are 2 schools of thought about how cataract surgery affects a case of
ARMD. Some think it makes it worse, some think it has no effect. I
might be one of the unfortunate few who proves the former. Now, I'm
reluctant to get my other eye done. Any professionals out there have
an opinion on this? OR any other patients want to weigh in? thanks
- Karen

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> specifics: I'm 52 years old, had mild dry macular degeneration in
> both eyes. Mild cataract in right eye, more severe cataract in left
> eye. I had cataract surgery in left eye in Dec 2004. Went to
> opthomologist yesterday and he reported that the ARMD has gotten worse
> in the left eye and remained the same in the right. He told me there
> are 2 schools of thought about how cataract surgery affects a case of
> ARMD. Some think it makes it worse, some think it has no effect. I
> might be one of the unfortunate few who proves the former. Now, I'm
> reluctant to get my other eye done. Any professionals out there have
> an opinion on this? OR any other patients want to weigh in? thanks
> - Karen

Please go to:

http://www.mdsupport.org/

and the MD Forum section and state this same note for discussion and people
who have this problem.

Don W.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> specifics: I'm 52 years old, had mild dry macular degeneration in
> both eyes. Mild cataract in right eye, more severe cataract in left
> eye. I had cataract surgery in left eye in Dec 2004. Went to
> opthomologist yesterday and he reported that the ARMD has gotten worse
> in the left eye and remained the same in the right. He told me there
> are 2 schools of thought about how cataract surgery affects a case of
> ARMD. Some think it makes it worse, some think it has no effect. I
> might be one of the unfortunate few who proves the former. Now, I'm
> reluctant to get my other eye done. Any professionals out there have
> an opinion on this? OR any other patients want to weigh in? thanks
> - Karen
>

It's impossible to pinpoint the effect of cataract surgery on ARMD because
you cannot stop "time." That is, you cannot tease apart the effect (if any)
of the surgery from the effect of aging.

>
> It's impossible to pinpoint the effect of cataract surgery on ARMD because
> you cannot stop "time." That is, you cannot tease apart the effect (if
> any) of the surgery from the effect of aging.

Well, how about this. for "pinpointing the effects of cataract surgery".
You form two groups with cataracts and ARMD. The groups are statistically
similar. Then you perform the cataract surgery on one group. Then x months
later, you compare the groups, statistically again, of course.

So have you "teased time"?

Don W.

"Don W" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6ZdUg.6809$(E-Mail Removed) ...
> >
>> It's impossible to pinpoint the effect of cataract surgery on ARMD
>> because you cannot stop "time." That is, you cannot tease apart the
>> effect (if any) of the surgery from the effect of aging.
>
> Well, how about this. for "pinpointing the effects of cataract surgery".
> You form two groups with cataracts and ARMD. The groups are statistically
> similar. Then you perform the cataract surgery on one group. Then x
> months later, you compare the groups, statistically again, of course.
>
> So have you "teased time"?
>
> Don W.

Yes, but a researcher will never get an IRB approval for that:-)

I was hoping to hear from eyecare professionals to see if they've seen
this result in their patients. It's a curious thing that my 'operated
on' eye is the one that got worse (re: ARMD). Coincidence? I don't
think so. By the way, I have reviewed the www.mdsupport.org site -
Very informative - thank you. Karen

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>I was hoping to hear from eyecare professionals to see if they've seen
> this result in their patients. It's a curious thing that my 'operated
> on' eye is the one that got worse (re: ARMD). Coincidence? I don't
> think so. By the way, I have reviewed the www.mdsupport.org site -
> Very informative - thank you. Karen

Karen,

Hope you are aware of the site/paper:

http://bjo.bmjjournals.com/cgi/conte...act/84/12/1343

You can download the entire paper from there.


Don W.