On the news today they said there was a cure for KC

[Prue B]

Apparently it is injections of some sort in the cornea and uv tratment anyone heard anything on it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20 ... 616872.htm

Here is a link. It is being trialed at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital. It is Vitamin B and UV treatment

[DJ Smak]

I think that is Corneal Crosslinking?
http://www.keratoconus-group.org.uk/for ... .php?t=731

I wonder if this procedure is gona spread? I mean if more people are going to learn to do it and it may become mainsream? I really hope that it does and that its safe in the long run. That would be awesome. Just wish that it was mainstream now and you could walk in to your doctor's and have it done.

[jayboi2005]

Yes thats C3R

[Andrew MacLean]

C3R is not a cure for KC. it is an alternative method of management of the condition.

Andrew

[jayboi2005]

Very close to a cure though, i would hope in the near future there may be a cure. From what i have been reading about C3R and what some people that have had the procedure have said it is close to a cure.

[Lynn White]

Just want to jump in here quickly.

Andrew is totally right. C3R is NOT a cure nor anywhere near that yet.

Firstly newspapers sell news. Headlining their article "A really interesting new approach that holds out some hope for KC management" is not exactly punchy though is much more accurate! You really cannot believe what you read in the press!

What the article actually means is that Aus is trialling the method because it is showing so much promise.

You will not get this anytime soon as a routine treatment because we have no idea what the long term effects are - by that I mean following people up for many MANY years.

Also, as a cure for KC we would really be talking about having to treat people in the very early stages and also be very sure such people were actually going to progress. Gathering information as to whether this would effectively stop KC would be difficult, because for a start, treating at such an early stage, one would not be so sure they might not have progressed anyway.

To be sure you have a "cure" you need a large study and to be honest we currently have no real accurate idea of how many people with KC there actually ARE in any given population.

So at the moment, ethically, C3R remains an individuals choice to see if it will help and certainly any official study like this Aus one will have to make it clear to people that it may not help them. Generally people will apply as subjects who have not had much success with other options, as again ethically, it is difficult to justify C3R for people who are successfully controlling their KC in other ways.

Developing cures for conditions is incredibly fraught with difficulties and articles like this one make it seem way to simplistic and raise hopes in people of instant success.

Lynn

[jayuk]

I agree with Andrew and Lynn....this is NOT a cure, but rather a solution which halts the development for KC onces its started........for how long we do not know yet as we do not have that data.........

J

[GarethB]

Even i Dresden the pioneers of this treatment say it may be that although the small n umber of patients that are 4 years post treatment that they will probably need a top up to keep KC at bay.

A cure would not only stop progression but regress gthe cornea to what it should be.

So far C3R in a majority of cases, most of which are carefully screened for treatment have shown progression to stop and in some regress.

So as already said, this is far from a cure, not even close. Just an alternative management strategy.

[asylumxl]

My 2p - how can there be a cure when they are still unsure of why it occurs?!

[jayuk]

AsylumXl

I had to laugh when you said that...as it was soo true.......I missed the fundamental there!