Topic: Embryonic stem cells appear to restore some vision | |
---|---|
Edited by
Peccy
on
Mon 01/23/12 01:48 PM
|
|
to legally blind patient
By Rob Stein, Monday, January 23, 1:36 PM For the first time, an experimental treatment made from human embryonic stem cells has shown hints of helping someone, apparently restoring some vision for at least one and possibly two women losing their sight to incurable forms of progressive blindness. Because the women were the first to volunteer for an experiment designed primarily to test the safety of injecting an embryonic stem cell therapy into people, scientists are being cautious. But the surprisingly quick improvement in a 51-year-old Los Angeles graphic artist whose vision was inexorably fading caught everyone involved off-guard. “This report provides the first evidence that embryonic stem cells may be safe — and that it really works,” said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology, which is sponsoring the closely watched experiment. The experiment, reported online in the Lancet on Monday, used the cells under highly favorable conditions not likely to exist in many diseases. They were transplanted into the eye, an organ in which the chance of immune rejection is low. The complex, 10-layer architecture of the retina was intact, so the cells were not asked to perform a heroic act of reconstruction. The researchers were able to monitor progress — and watch for complications — in real time by looking into the eyes. Nevertheless, Lanza believes this special case will provide useful lessons in the field. “Hopefully, this is just the beginning of many exciting new stem cell therapies that will move from bench to bedside in the next few years,” he said. Human embryonic stem cell research has stirred both high hopes and bitter debate. But so far the cells have only shown promise in laboratory studies and animal tests. The blindness trial is one of only two government-sanctioned attempts to try a therapy on people, and the first to document any evidence that the approach might be working. Both the graphic artist and the other patient, an elderly woman from Laguna Beach, Calif., had some remaining vision but were legally blind. The purpose of the experiment was to test the safety and tolerability of the stem-cell transplants, and the therapeutic goal was to slow the progress of the disease. Restoring some lost vision was a surprise, and the researchers said the placebo effect might explain at least part of the reported improvement. In particular, they’ve been less able to observe obvious effects of the procedure on the retina of the older woman. “We have to be careful not to turn this into: ‘Everybody needs stem cells right now,’ ” said Steven D. Schwartz, an ophthalmologist at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute who is leading the experiment. “But what it does say is that in the short term, this has been surprisingly positive.” In interviews with The Washington Post weeks before the results were made public, both patients said they were thrilled. “It’s a great gift, really,” said the Los Angeles woman, who asked not to be named to protect her privacy. “I’m ecstatic. It’s a big surprise.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/embryonic-stem-cells-appear-to-restore-some-vision-to-legally-blind-patient/2012/01/23/gIQAoHMPLQ_story.html?hpid=z2 |
|
|
|
Just wow.
|
|
|