£399 Home Tester Kit Causes Controversy

Following yesterdays news that the leading cause of blindness, age-related macular degeneration, could in fact be tested for using a home tester kit that is later sent off to a laboratory, a leading charity speaks out against the product. A spokeswoman for the charity has issued warnings against the kit and was said to be “outraged” at the marketing involved in the product.

The new home tester kit is designed for the middle-aged who are predominantly at risks of developing age-related macular degeneration; they can then purchase this kit online and send off their saliva for examination. The company behind the product is Optegra who current run hospitals in Surrey, Yorkshire and Guilford as a private company. However, leading UK charity, the Royal National Institute of Blind People has spoken out against the kit suggesting it is irresponsible and cannot and should not replace regular eye examinations by a trained optician. The campaigns manager for the Royal National Institute of Blind People stresses that people shouldn’t take risks with their sight; if they do have any problems with their sight they should be contacting their optician, not ordering a testing kit from the internet. Additionally, she adds that whilst AMD is gradually becoming a much more genetically understood disease, expensive home testing kits such as this one could severely endanger someone’s eyesight as they could be lulled into a false sense of security following the test. An optician is the only person who can professionally identify the disease and offer satisfactory treatment.

Nevertheless, people who are suffering from age-related macular degeneration account for nearly half a million of the UK population. Therefore, the worry and risk of developing this disease is evident, which is why tests like this could provide a peace of mind to people. Whilst they shouldn’t be taken as a 100% guarantee and patients should still visit their opticians at least once every two years, the home testing kit could be an added reassurance a year between their eye tests. Eyesight is such a treasured thing and adding extra tests alongside annual optician tests perhaps aren’t such a bad thing, so long as patients realise that they should be used additionally to eye examinations and if their vision does appear to have a problem, they consult an optician immediately.

23rd February 2010

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