Stem cells: Eyesight to the blind
Posted in This Just In... on June 3rd, 2009 by gkrakowNewspapers are reporting a new type of contact lens has been successful in restoring sight in just a few of days.
It could mean a cure for corneal blindness as well as providing hope for all the world’s blind and partially sighted people.
Researchers at Australia’s University used patients’ own stem cells grown on a simple contact lens and placed into the sufferer’s eye. Within days new cells attached themselves to the damaged area.
Patients who underwent the simple procedure had their sight significantly improved within weeks.
And another new form of stem cell therapy is having great success at reversing additional forms of blindness.
Couriermasil.com reports a 35-year old man with optic atrophy is regaining his vision after a series of embryonic stem cell treatments in India.
The condition affects the optic nerve and caused his sight to slowly deteriorate — since being diagnosed at age 9 — until all he could see were dark and light shapes.
But after seven weeks of stem-cell injections (more than $35,000 U.S.) tests reveal his optic nerve is growing back, and his eyesight is back to the level it was 15 years ago.