Stem Cell Therapy Helps Blind Patients Regain Vision
It’s being held hailed as one of the biggest successes in the use of stem cell therapy to treat medical conditions and illnesses. A group of researchers has found dramatic success in the treatment of blindness using stem cell therapy.
These patients had suffered serious eye injuries when caustic chemicals had been splashed into their eyes, either at home or during an industrial accident. The burn injuries had led to deteriorating vision. The Italian researchers treated these persons with stem cell transplants from the healthy eye, and monitored them all over for a number of years. The researchers used stem cell transplants from the healthy eye, and placed these on the damaged cornea of the injured eye. They found that the injured eye was able to grow new tissue in the cornea to replace the damaged tissue.
They found that out of 107 patients, 87 had their eyesight completely restored through the use of the therapy. In 14 other patients, the therapy was partially successful, with the benefits of the treatment lasting for up to 10 years. Ophthalmologists are calling this a “roaring success.”
For the therapy to be successful however, it was important that the patients have one healthy eye which would provide the healthy stem cell tissue. There was also no chance of rejection of the cells because they were from the patient's own body.
Every year, thousands of people suffer burn injuries after they are splashed with strong chemicals. Many of these accidents occur at home, but they're also often seen in certain kinds of workplaces, like chemical factories. This new treatment promises a much more effective way of treating blindness in these persons, than the more conventional artificial cornea transplants and cadaver transplants that are currently being used.
Scott Grossman is a New Jersey injury lawyer, representing injured victims of auto accidents and workplace accidents across New Jersey.
