Glaucoma is a common and important health problem. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in Western Society (Hoskins & Kass, 1989). It is responsible for ten percent of all blindness in the United States and continues to be the second or third most common cause of blindness in the world (Bunce, Fraser, & Wormald, 1999). It is estimated that two million people in the United States have been diagnosed as having glaucoma. Glaucoma is known to affect about two percent of Caucasians beginning at the age of 40 with an increasing risk for those over the age of 60. This risk is especially high if a member of the family has glaucoma or diabetes. Further, there is a higher risk of a glaucoma diagnosis for African Americans
The reason stem cells are such a big breakthrough in medical technology is that they are cells that have the remarkable ability to grow into just about any cell in the body (Introduction n. pag). In fact, stem cells that remain in the human body after birth “serve as a sort of internal repair system,” in many tissues and organs (Basics n. pag). This is an extremely efficient way of healing since stem cells can become
Traumatic Optic Neuropathy, T.O.N, is the direct or indirect injury to the optic nerve or optic canal secondary to trauma. Patients who present with T.O.N may have partial or complete vision loss. Due to little understanding, there is no prevention and no cure for T.O.N; or laboratory models to study this condition. Most common causes are motor vehicle accidents, falls, bike accidents, and assault. Though observation is the main treatment option, systemic corticosteroids and surgical optic nerve decompression is available .
Results: The study included 40 eyes of 21 patients. All patients completed at least 6 months
The BioPen allows surgeons to repair damaged bone and cartilage by “drawing” new cells directly onto bone in the middle of surgery. The pen has a bio-ink comprised of stem cells inside a biopolymer such as alginate (a seaweed extract) which is in turn protected by a second layer of hydrogel. Once on the bone surface, the ink is hardened using a UV light embedded in the pen. Once they are drawn onto the bone, they will proliferate in the patient’s body, differentiating into nerve, muscle and bone cells and eventually being established as tissue. The technique could reform how surgeons repair cartilage. For certain types of injuries, it’s difficult for surgeons to discern the exact shape of the area requiring an implant, making it tricky to design an artificial cartilage implant before surgery. With the BioPen, surgeons could simply use the hydrogel solution to fill in the damaged area. The cell solution could also be further customized by adding drugs to boost healing and regrowth. Hopefully, these type of innovations can change patients from being defined by their pain to being able to live healthier lives.
You've completed school and now you're prepared to begin filling in as an optometrist. On the off chance that you choose to open your own particular practice, you ought to be arranged to get optometry practice loans keeping in mind the end goal to utilize the cash to get the space that you need and buy the greater part of the hardware required to run a fruitful optometry office. Keeping in mind the end goal to get the loan that you require, you have to finish the accompanying 3 stages that will guarantee that you get the cash that you have to begin:
In 1971, Theodor Leber, a German ophthalmologist, first described distinctive symptoms of central vision loss in a group of patients. Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) was later named in his honor. With the discovery of mitochondrial DNA came the ability to identify the genetic cause of this disease. It is a maternally inherited mitochondrial disease that most commonly affects young men aged 15 to 30 years old. Its painless symptoms usually leave patients with significant, permanent blindness due to optic nerve damage in both eyes. There have been some reports of neurologic abnormalities such as tremors and cardiac arrhythmias. An ophthalmologist will examine the patients’ eyes and perform various
It can permanently impair the ocular nerve that lead to sightlessness, and 60 million people throughout the world have been affected. The significant aspects that assist in comprehending the nature of glaucoma are the types, the causes and the treatments. The major categories of glaucoma can be distinguished into open-angle and closed-angle contingent upon drainage of fluids. High Intraocular pressure considers the chief cause of glaucoma as stated by researchers. However, medications and surgical techniques are currently the basic methods of glaucoma medical care that minimize optic pressure into normal
When scars appear on the surface of the skin, elasticity on the affected area is lost. Since collagen is the main protein of connective tissues which enhances elasticity and strength, increasing the amount of collagen in ones body would greatly help in regenerating damaged tissue and promoting skin growth to remove, or at least, hide the
In most cases only one eye is usually affected, although there can be infection in both.
Uniquely, stem cells are able to divide and multiply themselves quickly and are also unspecialized cells, meaning they can modify themselves to create any new tissue (Haerens). Because stem cells are able to split and generate so quickly, they are known as regenerative medicine. Regenerative means they recreate themselves and are able to thrive in the setting they are placed in. For example, stem cells placed in muscle tissue will quickly divide so that the body’s muscle tissue will begin to build up again. Correspondingly, stem cells can be modified to be made into any type of adult cells or tissue, proving they are the best option for treating a multitude of distinct diseases. Although stem cells haven’t yet been utilized in all forms of medicine, there is a vast potential for the future through rigorous research and testing. To put into perspective the many uses of stem cells, a man named Barry Goudy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease in which the immune system attacks nerve cells (Nelson, J). In hopes of helping ease his pain, he became a part of a stem cell study where he was injected with his own modified stem cells; within four months, Goudy became symptom-free, stem cells essentially curing his MS. According to Jean Peduzzi Nelson, author for Opposing Viewpoints in Context, another completely different condition, degenerative corneal disease, causes loss of eyesight and even complete blindness. Typically, this condition is treated with eye transplants, which is rejected in 20% of cases (Nelson, J). However, when treated with stem cells derived from the person’s own body, over 75% of people regained the majority of their sight back (Nelson, J). These two very different cases prove that stem cells are very capable of treating and curing a multitude of
Imagine a world in which the only way to see was to reach your fingers out and feel. There would be no color to amaze you, no faces to distinguish between, and no facial expressions or body language to clue you in. Blindness is a serious thing that isn’t thought about very often. Glaucoma is a genetic disease that can cause blindness. It affects both old and young people worldwide. While it doesn’t decrease life expectancy, it is a disease that makes it hard or impossible to see that bright, colorful world.
Macular Degeneration is a problem in the part of the eye that controls your sharpest central vision. It is a group of diseases that result in a loss of detailed vision. The brain will not just leave the spot empty, so it learns to fill it in with spotty macular cell damage. People most of the time don't tell their doctors (opthalmologists) about it until it is well in advance.
This study was carried out to assess the changes of tear film after recovery from acute conjunctivitis. All the required medical data are collected on a self – designed Performa . The tear film break up time measured in control group and case group. The desired number of patients are taken from department of ophthalmology, Madina Teaching Hospital Faisalabad.
Over the next 21 months, the patient underwent three follow-up appointments 4, 8 and 21 months after grafting; while also receiving ten randomized biopsies. All biopsies showed the regenerated epidermis consisted of nearly identical amounts of laminin 332-β3 when compared to a control epidermis. Hybridization using a vector-specific transgene-LAMB3 probe with comparison to a Cdn1 probe control, disclosed that the regenerated epidermis was made up of only transgenic keratinocytes. Lastly, electron microscopy supported standard basement membrane thickness and morphology. Therefore, supporting the fully functional epidermal regeneration with the use of grafted transgenic cultures.