Film Tip: "Hope for Eyesight - New...

06.05.2022

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Film Tip: "Hope for Eyesight - New Therapies, New Chances?" in ARD Mediathek

The documentary “Hoffnung fürs Augenlicht - Neue Therapien, neue Chancen?” was broadcast on May 4 on SWR and SR and is now available in the ARD Mediathek.

Anne Kinski participates in the Ostsee Walk despite significant visual impairment to encourage people with retinal diseases and raise funds for research.

Donation handover at the Institute for Ophthalmic Research in Tübingen, Nov 2021

Serious and rare diseases leave affected people and their relatives in despair. Because often neither conventional medicine nor alternative healing methods can help. But new treatment methods and innovative inventions give hope - as in the case of Maximilian Maag, Anne Kinski and Peter Schroeder, who fear for their eyesight. Anne Kinski is a member of the patient organization PRO RETINA Deutschland e.V. and in September 2021 she ran the 100km -Ostseewanderweg in 22.5 hours for research funding. Before and during the run, she was accompanied by the film team and can now be seen with her story in the aforementioned documentary and to encourage all those affected (Link to ARD Mediathek)

"My hope is to encourage people that it is always worth fighting. No matter what life situation they are in." Anne Kinski was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 2015. There is currently no therapy for this genetic retinal disease. That is why she is particularly committed to promoting research: "I am convinced that medical progress will soon make it possible to cure progressive eye diseases that were previously untreatable."

As a member of PRO RETINA, Anne Kinski donated the funds raised from her 100-kilometer run to support a scientific project at the Research Institute for Ophthalmology led by Professor Dr. Marius Ueffing. Research is being conducted into a therapy for all retinal diseases, regardless of whether they are genetically caused or not. Professor Ueffing is grateful for any support that can help to give a perspective to the more than seven million people with age-related macular degeneration and an estimated eighty thousand others affected in Germany.

Information about the run and the research project can be found at the following link: https://betterplace.org/f39165. Donations can also still be made there.

About the film "Hope for Eyesight - New Therapies, New Chances?" by Kathi Liesenfeld:

Maximilian Maag is nearly blind, he has Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary retinal disease. As a result, his field of vision narrows more and more into what is known as tunnel vision. This eye disease was previously considered incurable. Now the 22-year-old hopes for a new gene therapy.

Anne Kinski is also at risk of losing her eyesight. The 45-year-old is not giving up hope and wants to raise money for research with a charity run.

Peter Schroeder suffers from macular degeneration, a retinal disease that often leads to blindness in older people. The 74-year-old now faces an important examination at the eye clinic, which will determine whether there are still treatment options for him.

SWR author Kathi Liesenfeld accompanied the three visually impaired people and witnessed their daily struggle for their eyesight.

More Information in German:

https://www.pro-retina.de/fernsehtipp-und-ard-mediathek

https://www.pro-retina.de/jeder-kilometer-zaehlt-die-herausforderung-mit-sehbehinderung-100-kilometer-in-24-stunden