Visual improvement following ozonetherapy in dry age related macular degeneration; a review.

The dry form of ARMD is becoming a serious problem because of the rise in the number of old individuals. No effective therapy is available in dry ARMD except for the illusory oral administration of antioxidant vitamins. Despite scepticism in the medical community, the therapeutic effect of ozonetherapy had been evaluated since 1996. This evaluation has been based on specific biochemical, molecular and pharmacological reactions. Nevertheless a number of visual scientists continue to ignore ozonetherapy conservatively and prescribe only antioxidant vitamins. Two small clinical studies involving 217 patients have been performed at the University of Siena showing that ozonetherapy can stop the progression of the disease while improving the visual acuity and the well-being of the patient. Moreover, it seems that ozonetherapy is a safe procedure and tends to have an excellent compliance.