Compiled by Wendy Watt, O.D. October 25, 2000 Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of central vision loss in the United States today, and it is the eye disease that most often results in legal blindness. Studies have shown that AMD responds well to antioxidant vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that could prevent the [Read More]
News
Vitrectomy Surgery
(Originally published September 2000) The vitreous is a jelly-like fluid which fills the middle of the eye and helps it hold its shape. In order for repairs to be made to the retina, the vitreous must be removed and then replaced after surgery. The vitreous may also need to be replaced if it is inflamed [Read More]
Foundation Researchers Use Gene Therapy to Restore Retinal Function in an Animal Model of Retinal Degeneration
by Tom Hoglund July 2000 In the July issue of Nature Genetics, Foundation Fighting Blindness-supported researchers used gene replacement therapy to treat a rodent model of retinal degeneration. This is the first published study to show that gene replacement therapy can restore function to photoreceptor cells. These findings also demonstrate that gene replacement therapy can [Read More]
Researchers Restore Vision In an Animal Model of Childhood Blindness
By Tom Hoglund Information Officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness July 2000 In a ground breaking study published in the July issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers rapidly restored lost vision in a mouse model of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) using oral doses of a chemical compound derived from vitamin A. LCA [Read More]
Artificial Retina Implanted in Humans
by Tom Hoglund Information Officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness For the first time ever, researchers from a company called Optobionics surgically implanted an artificial retina into three patients who are blind from retinitis pigmentosa. These highly-experimental prosthetic devices, made of silicon computer chips, are intended to restore ambulatory vision, thereby giving people the freedom to walk [Read More]