Support for sufferers, their families and research on World Retinitis Pigmentosa Day
Patients’ associations and the relatives of those affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP) are promoting the World Day devoted to the pathology, which takes place this Sunday, 24th September. The occasion seeks to raise society’s awareness of the limitations imposed by RP and calls for greater investment in research into the condition.
Retinitis pigmentosa is a degenerative, hereditary disease and the leading cause of blindness in the world. It is calculated that only in Spain —where over 15.000 people suffer from RP – 60,000 carry the defective genes responsible for the disease.
RP is one of the three diseases that are the founding reasons for the Barcelona Macula Foundation’s existence. We collaborate closely with research and care centres in developing a treatment that can prevent vision loss in those affected. Gene and stem cell therapies are the great hope in this regard. The BMF is working on a number of projects related to RP in order to identify and differentiate the cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). This should serve as the first step to designing different cellular products for regeneration of the RPE in patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa, AMD and Stargardt’s Disease.