45-minute operation to restore sight to millions (AMD by stem cells)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Daily Mail

A revolutionary technique being developed by British scientists could cure blindness in millions of people around the world.

The first 45-minute operations could take place within five years and could be as commonplace as cataract surgery in a decade.

The improvement is likely to be great enough to transform lives, allowing the blind to regain the ability to carry out everyday tasks such as reading or driving.

The pioneering stem cell surgery tackles age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in the elderly. There are about 300,000 sufferers in this country and the number is expected to treble in the next 25 years to around one million as the population ages.

AMD, which affects a quarter of over-60s in the UK and more than half of over-75s to some degree, occurs in two forms. While the "wet" form can be combated with drugs, there is no treatment for the "dry" form which accounts for 90 per cent of cases.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=460052&in_page_id=1965

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Will Repub Fundies against embryonic stem cell research with AMD have this operation if it's from embryonic stem cells? In the future this will be interesting to see.

[pnwmom]

1. Yes, I know someone with this condition who is very conservative.

It will be interesting to see what his reaction is.

[babylonsister]

2. My dad needs this now, not in 5 years.

:(

[CountAllVotes]

3. is he taking the eye vitamins?

I've got someone in my life with this too and they have been taking anti-oxidant eye vitamins since the DX in 2002. It has not progressed fortunately.

PM me for details.

CountAllVotes

[babylonsister]

4. Yes, he is, plus getting that procedure every month or two where they

stick the needle in his eyeball, but it's still progressing.

[CountAllVotes]

6. I guess he's getting the new drug

The new drug Lucentis which is injected into the eye is not helping? Wow, that is sad. There are other things to do too, like do not smoke tobacco and stay out of the sun. I guess he knows this already hopefully. I'm sorry to hear he is getting no relief for this awful problem. :(

[babylonsister]

7. Yes, he's taking the vitamins, too. That was the first thing the doc told

him to do. Also, eat fish and nuts; he hates fish, so he eats a can of tuna occasionally. :eyes:

[CountAllVotes]

12. how about Omega-3?

The person I know that is afflicted with this takes Omega-3 as well (fish oil).

I've been taking it too with ASTOUNDING results in my cholesterol levels (a drop of 85 pts.!!!).

Get him on this one too. It is not expensive and if he doesn't like fish, this may be a viable alternative. See to it that he takes at least 2,000 mg. a day (I've been taking 3,000 mg. a day for quite a long time now and thought it was having no effect until I recently had my cholesterol rechecked). :)

Best of luck fighting this awful problem!

:kick:

[babylonsister]

14. Thank you! Oddly, I just started taking Omega-3 because I don't

eat nearly enough fish. I'll pass that on to Dad.

[CountAllVotes]

15. great!

:thumbsup: let's hope it helps. I've been taking it steadily since 2003 or so. That was the last time I had my cholesterol checked and it was a very ugly number. Omega-3 is supposed to be good for all sorts of problems. :)

Best of luck!

:kick:

[seafan]

5. This is such great news!

Very good news coming from the UK today, of a revolutionary new embryonic stem cell technique to restore eyesight in millions with macular degeneration:


45-minute operation to restore sight to millions

by FIONA MACRAE
June 6, 2007

A revolutionary technique being developed by British scientists could cure blindness in millions of people around the world.
The first 45-minute operations could take place within five years and could be as commonplace as cataract surgery in a decade.

The improvement is likely to be great enough to transform lives, allowing the blind to regain the ability to carry out everyday tasks such as reading or driving.
The pioneering stem cell surgery tackles age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in the elderly.

.....

The treatment centres on human embryonic stem cells grown in a laboratory. These are "blank" cells with the power to turn into different cell types and are used to create small patches identical to the cells damaged in the eyes of AMD sufferers.
Packaged into a syringe, the patch is injected into the back of the eye where it replaces damaged cells and restores sight.

The technique is being developed by scientists and doctors from University College London, Moorfields Eye Hospital, also in London, and Sheffield University, working together in the London Project to Cure Blindness.

Their work has been boosted by a £4million donation from an anonymous American benefactor.

.....

Hopefully, we will soon eject the neanderthals from our government who are fighting this tooth and claw....

[Auntie Bush]

9. Too bad that anonymous donor couldn't have donated to

an American research team!..Bush and the fundies are depriving us of so much expertise and many scientific jobs. What a shame! But I can say that to everything the fool does with his lack of intelligence and abundance of stupidity. I feel for all those people who could be helped by stem cell research. They must be so angry and frustrated. Bush has set this country back at least 8 years...the whole time he's been in office...plus all the time it will take to get back on track. My blood pressure goes up just thinking about him so I'll sign off.

[OwnedByFerrets]

8. K & R

[saigon68]

10. The Pope won't like this

Playing god with science

Neither will the right wing hateful fundies.

Cheney on the other hand sees a profit if a corporation gets exclusive rights

[StarryNite]

13. Yeah the Pope and the

right wing fundies won't like this one bit until and unless they should wind up needing the procedure. Then watch how fast they back peddle on the issue. I know a woman who worked for her church fighting tooth and nail against abortions. That is until her own teen aged daughter wound up pregnant. Then she couldn't get her daughter down to have an abortion fast enough.

[saigon68]

19. Especially if the father is of another race

The Fundy will beat Secretariat to the abortion clinic door, to get her daughter taken care of

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Also covered by BBC:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=222&topic_id=21214&mesg_id=21214

[dysfunctional press]

16. how can one 45-minute procedure restore sight to millions?

wouldn't each of them have to go thru the procedure themselves...?

[glitch]

17. I wish it worked for other forms of MD as well. Like the childhood version.

Still, it's good news for the rest of us. Thanks for posting.

[stopwastingmymoney]

18. It should

If it replaces damaged retina cells, then it should work for all forms of MD

My hubby and his mom have RP, I take this as good news for them as well

[glitch]

21. Welcome to DU!

The article said this technique is being tried on adult onset, wet forms AMD. I am hoping that eventually they'll apply it to the other forms. Or that someone else already is and there'll be results soon.
My sister has had MD since she was 5, I would love to see her see again.

[burrowowl]

20. It would be a Great thing!

[Duppers]

22. this is great news. many thanks for posting

I'm printing the article is a very large font to take to my mother (when I see her in a few weeks).
She's 82 and legally blind with MD...and, get this, she's a repub who doesn't believe in using stems cells! but I know she'll have this treatment when it's available.

She and I have NEVER been on the 'same page.' sigh.