Can age-related blindness be cured? Important scientific advance
The macular degeneration (AMD) consists of a disorder mainly related to age, characterized by the slow destruction of central and acute vision, which makes both reading and visualization of fine details difficult, and although a complete loss of vision does not occur (given that does not affect lateral or peripheral vision), yes it is an eye disorder that causes loss of central vision. This means that, over the years, the person who suffers may lose their ability to read, to drive a car or even to recognize the faces of other people when they are at a distance.
We are facing a disease that mainly affects people over 60 years of age, which is why it is a disorder known primarily with the name of macular degeneration associated with age. Its main cause is derived from the damage caused to the different blood vessels that supply the macula, a part of the retina that allows the vision to be more detailed and clear.
However, we must differentiate between two types of macular degeneration: on the one hand dry macular degeneration, which happens when the blood vessels under the macula tend to become fragile and thin, forming small yellow deposits (usually their first symptoms). Wave wet macular degeneration that is the main cause of vision loss associated with the disorder, in which abnormal and very fragile blood vessels grow under the macula, leaking fluid and blood.
It is precisely the latter that tends to cause the loss of vision, since dry macular degeneration (which is actually milder) does not usually cause a loss of central vision that may be incapacitating for the person.
As we have known from the hand of The Telegraph, it seems that every time we are closer to a cure for macular degeneration. And it's that surgeons at Moorfields Eye Hospital have carried out the first operation with embryonic stem cells in order to reverse this type of age-related blindness.
The operation was performed in a 60-year-old patient who suffered from wet macular degeneration (the least common but in the most aggressive), achieving a "successful" result in the words of the specialists, since they managed to restore vision through a procedure safer. However, as they warn, it should still be a few months before the true impact of the operation is known.
We must remember that last year in the United States a different medical technique was used to restore vision in half of the patients who underwent the tests. While this same year in the United Kingdom was also able to recover the vision of an 80-year-old patient with poor central vision thanks to the use of a bionic eye. This article is published for informational purposes only. It can not and should not replace the consultation with a Physician. We advise you to consult your Trusted Doctor. ThemesDiseases of the eyes Eyes
