The Fight for Sight

If 1:5 children has an eye disorder and 1:3 older adults, there is a good chance that you will have an eye condition at some stage in your life. Many of these conditions are caused by changes in our genes and we are starting to understand how this happens. For the vast majority, treatments are limited and generic but we are now starting to tailor treatments to the underlying genetic causes. So, how far have we got? What does the next 20 years hold? Come and find out.

Albinism is a condition that results in poor eyesight for the sufferer due to bad development resulting in problems at school, at work and in their social life. Unfortunately, there is no treatment currently available. Helena will talk about how the eyes of children are still able to change and develop even with albinism and how this knowledge is helping her to find new treatments here in Southampton.

When you are 80 years old there is a 1:3 change to develop vision loss. In many cases this is due to age-related macular degeneration, a disease where the light sensitive part of the eye slowly loses its function. As AMD progresses, the center of a person's visual field may become smudged, distorted or lost, causing problems with reading, driving, watching TV and recognizing faces. In this talk Jessica will talk about the science behind vision loss, the role of inflammation in this process and how research in Southampton is getting grips to finding new ways to treat this devastating disease.