Retina SA to celebrate Clinic Trials Day

Before Covid, a few people had ever heard of a clinical trial.
Now everyone knows that these are tests conducted to check the safety and effectiveness of medical intervention.
However, few people understand how and why trials are conducted.
The first recorded “test” on selected people was by a doctor in the British navy, James Lind.
He developed the theory that citrus fruit could prevent scurvy; a dreaded disease that is now known to be caused by a vitamin C deficiency.
Lind tested various interventions on groups of sailors and the group given citrus fruits showed the best results.
These recorded results formed the basis of strictly controlled clinical trials that ensure the maximum safety of a vast array of medical interventions that we have in modern times.
The scepticism of many people about the Covid vaccine is often attributed to the speed at which the vaccine was developed, but this is not the case.
Most of the Covid vaccines utilise a messenger RNA system for the delivery of the vaccine.
This mRNA delivers copies of a section of DNA to targeted cells and this has been studied by geneticists for many years.
Researchers in cancer and genetic forms of many diseases including retinal vision loss have perfected this technique and it was ready to be adapted to the Covid vaccine.
The vast number of people that received the vaccine also allowed for an escalation of the assessment of adverse events.
On Clinical Trials Day 2022, celebrated on May 20, millions of people who escaped possible severe disease or even death from the Covid 19 virus need to think of Lind who started the process of clinical trials in 1747.
“Clinical trials to test the effectiveness of promising treatments for genetic retinal blindness are being tested all over the world.
“In South Africa, we are participating in an international trial to test a treatment to slow the progression of Stargardt Disease- an inherited form of central vision loss that affects thousands of South Africans,” said Claudette Medefindt, head of science at Retina South Africa.
“We were recently unable to participate in a trial to test an mRNA treatment for Usher Syndrome- a genetic disease that causes both losses of hearing and vision. We did not have enough Usher patients with the correct genetic diagnoses to participate.
“Sadly, we estimate that there are enough South Africans with his severe condition who may have been eligible, but they are not registered with Retina South Africa. We call on all South Africans with genetic retinal vision loss to register with us immediately. Clinical trials lead to effective and safe treatments,” she said.
South Africans with retinal disease to contact Retina South Africa on 0860 595 959 or via the website at www.retinasa.org.za.