vision loss tagged posts

Gene therapy successfully treated a canine version of Best disease, a blinding disorder, the effects lasting more than five years. In these images of the retina of untreated (left) and treated (right) dogs, one can see that BEST1 gene expression (in red) was restored following treatment. In addition, the threrapy restored the structure of the RPE (green layer), a layer of cells that supports the light-sensing photoreceptor cells.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have developed a gene therapy that successfully treats a form of macular degeneration in a canine model. The work sets the stage for translating the findings into a human therapy for an inherited disease that results in a progressive loss of central vision and which is currently untreatable...

Glaucoma slowly and silently clouds vision, without any pain. Credit: Photo courtesy of NEI

Vision loss due to glaucoma or optic nerve damage is generally considered irreversible. Now a new prospective, randomized, multi-center clinical trial demonstrates significant vision improvement in partially blind patients after 10 days of noninvasive,transorbital alternating current stimulation (ACS). In addition to activation of their residual vision, patients also experienced improvement in vision-related quality of life eg acuity, reading, mobility or orientation.

“ACS treatment is a safe and effective means to partially restore vision after optic nerve damage probably by modulating brain plasticity, re-synchronizing brain networks, which were desynchronized by vision loss...