Stem Cell Treatment for Eye Disease

In Los Angeles, stem cells have been shown to improve the vision in two patients with macular degeneration, which is the leading cause for blindness.

Steven D. Schwartz, a retina specialist at the University of California, treated two patients who were legally blind with the stem cell therapy. Both patients, both legally blind, explained that they had gained eyesight. One saw "colors better and was able to thread a needle and sew on a button" while the other was able to "navigate" around a shopping mall by herself.

However, by only treating two patients, it is hard to judge the study when there was no control group in the experiment.

The company who sponsored the study, Advanced Cell Technology, transformed embryonic stem cells into retinal pigment epithelial cells. 50,000 of these cells were implanted last July under the retinas in one eye of each patient.

I found this article interesting because of the controversy of using embryonic stem cells along with conducting a study with two patients and no control group. In the article, it states that the study will be expanded and conducted at UCLA, hopefully leading to more definite conclusions.

Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/business/stem-cell-study-may-show-advance.html?_r=1&ref=health