CATT Study Update 4 Avastin vs Lucentis Study Ready to Roll

On the eve of the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans, scheduled to begin tomorrow (November 9-14), the Center for Preventative Ophthalmology and Biostatistics at UPenn has finally updated their website on the CATT Study. The website now contains almost everything you need to know about the study.

In particular: What Is Neovascular AMD and Why Is the CATT Study Important?

This section provides an explanation of what AMD is and how it is treated, along with some information about the CATT Study, its design and aims.

The Study’s primary aim is to evaluate the relative safety and efficacy of treatment of subfoveal AMD with both Avastin and Lucentis, determine an appropriate dosing schedule and, to see if there is any clinical difference between the two drugs. Some of the secondary aims include:

• Determination of the number of treatments required at 1 and 2 year periods
• Determination if either or both drugs provide a 3-line change in visual acuity (15 letters on ETDRS chart)
• Changes in subretinal and intraretinal fluid on OCT examination
• Changes in lesion size on fluorescein angiograph examination
• Incidence of any complications of treatment (endophthalmitis, retinal detachment, cataract, uveitis)
• Incidences of other adverse effects
• Comparison of the cost of treatment over two years

There are two links within the document: one describes the eligibility requirements, while the second is a 258 page Manual of Procedures, which contains everything your ever wanted to know about the CATT Study.

The only changes I noted from the original information I have provided are that enrollment is now scheduled to begin January 1st, and the number of clinical sites has been reduced to 44. The location of the 44 sites is not provided on the website (yet), but hopefully will be included soon.

In any event, I have a prior list of 45 sites which presumably contains all of the sites scheduled to participate. Anyone wishing to know what sites are participating in their states can email me and I will be happy to provide a list for that state. (My email link is shown in the sidebar.)

Longevity vs Morbidity Ill Health

by Nina 

Ice by Philip Amdal

“Stated succinctly, lower mortality is being replaced by higher morbidity (ill health).” —Daniel Lieberman, from The Story of the Human Body

For some time now I’ve been meaning to write about the difference between longevity (the number of years you live) and morbidity (the number of years you spend in ill health). I think it’s an important topic because morbidity, not longevity, is the issue we’re trying to address here on this blog. I’ve definitely had people challenge me about the longevity issue, saying for example, that if overweight people live just as long as thinner people, what’s the problem? Well, the answer is that the number of years you live is not the whole story. It’s also important to consider what your quality of life might be during your lifetime, especially your later years.

“As more people are living longer and fewer are dying young from diseases caused by infections or insufficient food, exponentially more middle-aged and elderly people are suffering from chronic noninfectious diseases that used to be rare or unknown.” —Daniel Lieberman

As I’m currently reading a book by Daniel Lieberman called The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease that considers this very issue from the point of view of human evolution, I decided that now would be a good time to take on the topic of longevity vs. morbidity. (Hey, it’s always easier to write about something when I’ve got lots of handy quotes from an expert, in this case a professor of human evolutionary biology and the Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences at Harvard.)

Here is how the book describes the current epidemic of ill health (morbidity) in the developed world:

“Cosseted by an embarrassment of riches, a majority of adults in developed countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom are unfit and overweight, and the prevalence of childhood obesity is skyrocketing globally, presaging billions more unfit and obese people in the decades to come. Poor fitness and excess weight, in turn, are accompanied by heart disease, strokes, and various cancers, as well as a multitude of costly, chronic illness, such as type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.” —Daniel Lieberman

Throughout the book, Lieberman talks about how human beings evolved to live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, one that includes being very physically active (we evolved for endurance walking and running), eating lots of fruits and vegetables and other unprocessed foods (rather than quickly metabolized high-processed foods), and experiencing stress as an acute, episodic reaction rather than a chronic state. He says that our bodies are simply not built to handle being sedentary for years on end, a regular surfeit of calories, and/or a chronically stressful lifestyle.

And for the last couple of years, we’ve been on a mission to let you know the various ways that regular yoga practice can help with the morbidity that is becoming associated with aging in the developing world. Although they won’t turn you back into a hunter-gatherer, the yoga solutions we’ve been offering on this blog for the last couple of years will help you move back in the right direction. A regular asana practice is a great way to return to being physical active, one that helps you with strength, flexibility, balance and agility. Yoga’s stress management tools, including meditation, breath practices, and stress-reducing poses help reduce chronic stress associated with many serious illnesses, such as heart disease and high blood pressure. And for those with weight problems, yoga can be of some help in reducing the stress that can cause overeating and the especially dangerous abdominal fat, allowing you increase your will power, and teaching you to be more mindful in your eating habits.

“Just as this is not the best of all possible worlds, your body is not the best of all possible bodies. But it’s the only one you’ll ever have, and it’s worth enjoying, nurturing, and protecting. “ —Daniel Lieberman

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