We investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of HESA-A (a drug of
herbal-marine origin) in the treatment of age related macular
degeneration (AMD). In a randomized double blind clinical trial 280
eyes of 280 (157 F, 123 M) patients with wet and dry AMD were randomly
assigned in treatment or placebo groups. Patients in treatment group
received HESA-A tablet 25 mg/Kg twice a day orally and controls
received placebo with the same method for 4 weeks. Visual acuity at
baseline and after one month of treatment was measured and compared
between two groups. All patients were followed up for 5 months after
treatment. Mean patients’ age was 69.06±8.49 years. At the
end of study visual acuity improved significantly from 1.69±0.65
LogMar to 1.03± 0.40 LogMar in treatment group but not in controls
(P: 0.000 and P: 0.67 in treatment and control groups respectively). No
drug reaction or recurrence was reported during the study and 5-month
post treatment follow up period in HESA-A treated group. This study
showed significant efficacy and safety of HESA-A in improvement of
visual acuity in AMD patients in short term