Autopsy studies indicate that most people over 70 already have some evidence of it. There are 200,000 new cases each year, making it as common as breast cancer. That number could double by 2030 as the population ages. The disease causes gradual loss of central vision by damaging the RPE cells that underly the macula, the small region of the retina responsible for fine detail at the center of the field of vision.
Patients first lose the ability to see details and are soon unable to read.
Although laser treatment can sometimes slow the spread of some forms of the disorder, there is no proven effective treatment for the advanced stages of macular degeneration. She has suffered progressive vision loss for more than five years that could not be controlled by the standard treatments such as laser therapy. Only her left eye, which has suffered the most damage, was treated. The fetal cells, collected after a medically necessary, second-trimester abortion, have been specially prepared and grown in the laboratory for use in transplantation. The researchers used fetal cells because they grow rapidly and are less likely than mature cells to provoke an immune response.