Retinitis Pigmentosa

Retinitis Pigmentosa is an eye disease leading to death of the rod photoreceptors and subsequent death of the the cones due to oxidative damage, resulting in blindeness. Several mutations have been found to cause Retinitis Pigmentosa.

It has recently been concluded that N-acetylcysteine might help prevents cone death in the retina .

Symptoms

• Night Blindness
• Tunnel Vision
• Aversion to glare
• Blurred Vision
• Latticework Vision
• Extreme Tiredness

Treatment

Although no effective treatments to cure the disease have been discovered, a number of studies have inferred that treating a patient with antioxidants such as sizeable doses of Retinyl palmitate (vitamin A palmitate) will slow down the progress of the disease. There are compllications to this treatment, retinyl palmitate can cause serious damage to a patients liver, so treatment benefits have to be weighed against the risks.