New treatment to tackle main cause of blindness

A new treatment for the leading cause of blindness in Ireland is being put on the market today.

Lucentis is aimed at the one-in-10 Irish people aged 50 and up who develop Wet AMD, a condition that can cause a serious deterioration in vision in less than six months.

Up until now, the best outcome was that patients could have their vision stabilised.

However, the Novartis pharmaceutical firm says its new product can actually improve vision in 70% of patients.