Valeda Ligh System for Dry AMD
Approximately 85% to 90% of those with AMD, have the dry version. To my understanding, the Valeda Light System is a recently approved FDA treatment for DRY AMD. However, when discussing it with my Retina Specialist, he is not sold on it YET. He says it probably can’t hurt BUT the trials were very limited and it is NOT yet approved by Medicare, costing $2,000 to $4,000 PER EYE for a treatment that includes 6 or 7 sessions. I trust my RS. Very pricey. What have you heard? Do you know anyone who has tried it? What does your doctor say? I’m very curious! Linda Hoopes
Hi Linda, I went to Switzerland to get the 9 treatments of Lumi Thera, since is wasn't approved in the U.S. Result was that I could read one more line on the eye chart. The doctor told me that I should continue treatments in the U.S. in three months. He knew FDA was considering it and thought it would be approved faster than it was. It wasn't. Lumi Thera is all over Europe and other countries, so it is not new. When it was finally approved, I did a search and found a retinologist in Garden Grove, California., who has the Valeda machine and gives the treatments. At the time shortly after approval, there were only two in the U.S. I was he second person; his father was his first (with amazing results). Now they are coming from all over, including Canada. I just finished the 9 treatments; results: my bad eye which was 20/1000 is now 20/159. The good eye remained stable. In Switzerland we paid $1500 for the 9 treatments. When I was researching locations, I saw much higher prices at other places. Here in Garden Grove, Calif., I paid for a year's worth (three 9 Lumi Thera treatments) at $4800. If you divide that by three, it comes out to $1600 per series of 9 treatments.
The treatments are scheduled 3 a week (every other day). For a person with early AMD, they will get a much larger improvement. The treatment takes only 15 minutes, is painless, and has so side effects. Since I am 20/30 in my good eye but with geographic atrophy, I'm wanting to stay stable, so I'll keep it up.
I asked my doctor if he would get the Valeda nachine, and he said no. He doesn't have much faith in it, but the results show great results. I would recommend Lumi Thera to anyone with dry AMD.
If you have any questions, I'll be glad to hear them. Or you can contact the doctor I go to: George L. Mayo, MD FASRS, FACS.
Sincerely, Ellen Clizbe
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Valeda Ligh System for Dry AMD
Linda Hoopes's avatar image
Linda Hoopes
ellen Member
Last Updated: 1 day ago
Hi Linda, I went to Switzerland to get the 9 treatments of Lumi Thera, since is wasn't approved in the U.S. Result was that I could read one more line on the eye chart. The doctor told me that I should continue treatments in the U.S. in three months. He knew FDA was considering it and thought it would be approved faster than it was. It wasn't. Lumi Thera is all over Europe and other countries, so it is not new. When it was finally approved, I did a search and found a retinologist in Garden Grove, California., who has the Valeda machine and gives the treatments. At the time shortly after approval, there were only two in the U.S. I was he second person; his father was his first (with amazing results). Now they are coming from all over, including Canada. I just finished the 9 treatments; results: my bad eye which was 20/1000 is now 20/159. The good eye remained stable. In Switzerland we paid $1500 for the 9 treatments. When I was researching locations, I saw much higher prices at other places. Here in Garden Grove, Calif., I paid for a year's worth (three 9 Lumi Thera treatments) at $4800. If you divide that by three, it comes out to $1600 per series of 9 treatments.
The treatments are scheduled 3 a week (every other day). For a person with early AMD, they will get a much larger improvement. The treatment takes only 15 minutes, is painless, and has so side effects. Since I am 20/30 in my good eye but with geographic atrophy, I'm wanting to stay stable, so I'll keep it up.
I asked my doctor if he would get the Valeda nachine, and he said no. He doesn't have much faith in it, but the results show great results. I would recommend Lumi Thera to anyone with dry AMD.
If you have any questions, I'll be glad to hear them. Or you can contact the doctor I go to: George L. Mayo, MD FASRS, FACS.
Sincerely, Ellen Clizbe
