Pioneering Stem Cell Transplants Restore Sight
Scottish specialists have developed a pioneering treatment currently being tested on two patients in which stem cells are transplanted into the cornea to combat corneal damage and sight loss.
Corneal diseases are the second biggest cause of blindness worldwide, and in some form or another account for an estimated 7.25 million of the 45 million blind people in the world. Worse still is the historically difficult nature of treating corneal damage, and it wasn’t particularly long ago when the only cost-effective aid to the problem was ‘prevention over cure’ - which naturally gave very limited assistance to those who already faced it.
Slightly more recently was the development of organ transplant, and this allowed patients fortunate enough to make it to the top of the list access to donated corneal tissue to remedy damage. Of course, the need for the transplant far outweighs access to the undamaged materials to be transplanted, and so it is unsurprising that claims of a sight-restoring stem cell treatment has been hailed as a much needed advance.
Viability of stem cell research
If you were to suggest that you believe stem cell research is a currently under-funded venture then you would certainly not be alone. The UK Stem Cell Foundation last year issued an aim of raising £5 million in the next three years, and slightly more recently received a substantial £300,000 grant from Scottish Enterprise.
However, with the current economic climate in which more and more importance is placed upon each pound, funding is becoming increasingly difficult to find and Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon commented on the matter: "This pioneering new treatment could potentially restore sight and improve the lives of many patients, and it is vital that we continue to invest in innovative projects such as this one.”
Results of the transplant
Sylvia Paton, the first person to undergo this pioneering new treatment, will be a focus of attention in the area for some time now as the project’s originators claim that it will likely be a number of months before they are able to gauge how well it has worked.
Certainly though, this could very well be the start of an era of ophthalmic developments to treat conditions such as this, and there is little reason to believe that with enough investment and development stem cell transplant could be put to use in other areas of medical science. In fact, professionals in the area have been seen to comment that similar developments could “transform medicine over the coming decades”.
This is certainly an exciting space to watch as medicine advances faster than ever.
Scottish specialists have developed a pioneering treatment currently being tested on two patients in which stem cells are transplanted into the cornea to combat corneal damage and sight loss.
Corneal diseases are the second biggest cause of blindness worldwide, and in some form or another account for an estimated 7.25 million of the 45 million blind people in the world. Worse still is the historically difficult nature of treating corneal damage, and it wasn’t particularly long ago when the only cost-effective aid to the problem was ‘prevention over cure’ - which naturally gave very limited assistance to those who already faced it.
Slightly more recently was the development of organ transplant, and this allowed patients fortunate enough to make it to the top of the list access to donated corneal tissue to remedy damage. Of course, the need for the transplant far outweighs access to the undamaged materials to be transplanted, and so it is unsurprising that claims of a sight-restoring stem cell treatment has been hailed as a much needed advance.
Viability of stem cell research
If you were to suggest that you believe stem cell research is a currently under-funded venture then you would certainly not be alone. The UK Stem Cell Foundation last year issued an aim of raising £5 million in the next three years, and slightly more recently received a substantial £300,000 grant from Scottish Enterprise.
However, with the current economic climate in which more and more importance is placed upon each pound, funding is becoming increasingly difficult to find and Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon commented on the matter: "This pioneering new treatment could potentially restore sight and improve the lives of many patients, and it is vital that we continue to invest in innovative projects such as this one.”
Results of the transplant
Sylvia Paton, the first person to undergo this pioneering new treatment, will be a focus of attention in the area for some time now as the project’s originators claim that it will likely be a number of months before they are able to gauge how well it has worked.
Certainly though, this could very well be the start of an era of ophthalmic developments to treat conditions such as this, and there is little reason to believe that with enough investment and development stem cell transplant could be put to use in other areas of medical science. In fact, professionals in the area have been seen to comment that similar developments could “transform medicine over the coming decades”.
This is certainly an exciting space to watch as medicine advances faster than ever. We will all wait eagerly for more news.
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