EMBRYONIC stem cells have been used to treat human illness for the first time, improving the sight of two women with severe vision loss.

The controversial development could give hope to hundreds of thousands of people suffering macular degeneration – one of the most common forms of blindness in First World countries – and has been hailed a historic step by stem cell scientists.

In a US trial last year, two legally blind women reported sight improvements after receiving a small dose of embryonic stem cell transplantations in their eyes.

Both had different forms of macular degeneration, a group of diseases that affect the retina, causing loss of central vision.

After the transplant in July, the first woman, who suffers from dry age-related macular degeneration, went from being able to read 21 letters on a sight test chart to 28. The second woman, who has Stargardt’s disease, went from being unable to read any letters to reading five. While the scientists who conducted the study are cautious about the results, tests indicate that healthy cells have grown where the treatment was injected.

They said the patients had shown no negative reactions.

The study, reported in The Lancet this week, was led by Robert Lanza, the chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology in the US – the stem cell company that funded the trial.

The research has taken place amid debate about whether the stem cells should be used because they are derived from five- to six-day-old human embryos.

The disease affects one in seven people over 50, the Macular Degeneration Foundation says.

Saving Eyes

Ocular Oncologists Inject Drug Into Eye

To Starve Tumors And Save Sight

October 1, 2008 — Ocular oncologists adopted a drug originally intended to treat colon cancer as a treatment for cancers in the eye as well as macular degeneration. The drug reduces abnormal blood vessel growth, which starves tumors and stops blood vessels from leaking. This interrupts the processes that would, if not stopped, greatly damage patients’ vision.

Whether it’s cancer or macular degeneration, many times patients must face the reality that they will go blind. Now, a new treatment is helping save their sight.

The first thing everyone notices about Dove Karn is her beautiful blue eyes — and it was in Central Park where she came to terms with the fact that she had melanoma in one of those very eyes.

Her tumor was treated with radiation — but the side effects could destroy her vision. Ocular oncologist Paul Finger turned to a new drug to stop Dove’s vision from slipping away.

“It’s a real paradigm shift — like antibiotics were for infections,” says Paul Finger, M.D., an ocular oncologist at the New York Eye Cancer Center in New York City. “This anti-blood-vessel drug is saving people’s vision.”

Avastin is a shot given directly into the eye. It starves the tumor by stopping the growth of abnormal blood vessels that normally would feed the tumor.

“Avastin stops new blood vessels from growing, but it also prevents new and old blood vessels from leaking — and the leaking is what takes away most of the patient’s vision,” Dr. Finger said.

Dove will need to get shots every 6 to 8 weeks, indefinitely — but she says it’s worth it.

“This year was the year that I could say I’m in remission,” Karn said. “I have a full-time teaching job. My children are fabulous — life is wonderful right now.”

ABOUT CANCER IN THE EYE: Ocular melanoma — eye cancer — is a particularly rare and aggressive form of cancer that attacks the pigment cells in the retina. There are essentially two types of intraocular melanoma: low-grade tumors, which grow slowly and rarely metastasize, and high-grade tumors, which grow more quickly and metastasize at a very early stage. Once a tumor metastasizes, the cancer spreads quickly to the liver and other organs, and a patient has only 6 to 12 months to live in the worst cases, although some can survive for as long as 5 years. The National Eye Institute estimates some 2,000 newly diagnosed cases of ocular melanoma occur per year in the United States and Canada –roughly seven in one million people. It affects people of all ages and races, and is not hereditary. Ocular melanoma kills nearly half of those who develop it.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Science (June 11, 2010) — An inexpensive, but unlicensed drug to help prevent severe sight loss in older people has been shown to be safe and effective, finds a study published online in the British Medical Journal.

Bevacizumab (Avastin) is licensed as a treatment for bowel cancer, but it is widely used “off label” as a considerably cheaper alternative to the approved drug ranibizumab (Lucentis) to prevent wet age related macular degeneration (AMD) and several large trials comparing the two drugs are now underway.

Although ranibizumab was not included in this study (it was not licensed for use when the trial began) the researchers support its immediate implementation in healthcare systems whose budgetary limitations prevent patients’ access to ranibizumab. In the majority of countries in the world, where either no treatment or inferior therapies are available to patients with wet AMD, the appropriate use of bevacizumab, a highly cost effective intervention, would have an immediate impact in reducing incident blindness from this condition, they say.

Wet AMD is the leading cause of visual loss in people over the age of 50 in Europe and North America. Visual loss is a result of progressive loss of light sensitive cells at the back of the eye due to damage from abnormal, leaking blood vessels. Sufferers do not go blind, but find it virtually impossible to read, drive, or do tasks requiring fine, sharp, central vision.

In 2006, researchers based at three UK eye centres, set out to test whether bevacizumab is an effective and safe treatment for wet AMD compared with standard NHS care available at the time.

A total of 131 patients aged at least 50 years with wet AMD were randomised to either bevacizumab injections at six week intervals or standard care (one of three different treatments available on the NHS at the start of the study). Visual acuity was measured at the start of the study (baseline) and then monitored over one year (54 weeks).

At one year, 32% of patients in the bevacizumab group gained 15 or more letters from baseline visual acuity compared with 3% in the standard care group.

In addition, the proportion of patients who lost fewer than 15 letters of visual acuity from baseline was significantly greater among those receiving bevacizumab treatment (91%) compared with 67% in the standard care group.

Average visual acuity increased by seven letters in the bevacizumab group with a median of seven injections compared with a decrease of 9.7 letters in the standard care group, and the initial improvement at week 18 was sustained to week 54.

Bevacizumab treatment was associated with a low rate of serious adverse events.

These results show that bevacizumab injections given at six weekly intervals for wet AMD is superior to the standard care available at the start of the trial, say the authors. This trial provides level-one evidence for the use of bevacizumab injections for the treatment of wet AMD, they conclude.

In an accompanying editorial, Professor Usha Chakravarthy from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast says that, although this trial fills a gap in the evidence base and shows robustly that bevacizumab is better than previously employed treatments, it does not tell us whether the drug is as effective as ranibizumab. And she warns that “the off label use of bevacizumab should not be encouraged until the large randomised trials comparing it with ranibizumab report their findings.”

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 12th June 2010

A Natural Approach

to Protect and Maintain Healthy Eyes

Loss of vision can result from a number of different conditions or factors. Some of the most common include diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataracts. Some less common but very real conditions that can lead to vision loss are retinis pigmentosa and macular degeneration as well.

Other conditions that can include vision loss:

Uveitis – This condition is characterized by an inflammation of the iris, choroid and ciliary body, which all make up the middle layer of the eye. Many times, this condition is caused by an underlying disease like an infection or rheumatoid arthritis. Symptoms consist primarily of diminished or hazy vision but pain and redness may also be present. Anytime a blockage of a blood vessel that serves the retina – such as in the case of a blood clot – takes place, vision loss can occur as well.

Retinal detachment – In this case, the loss of vision is compared to having a curtain drawn across the field of vision. “Sparks”, flashes of light or an increase in the number of black floaters in the field of vision are also common.

Toxic amblyopia – With this condition, the optic nerve becomes damaged due to a toxic reaction. When this happens, a small “hole” which gets larger over a period of time is created in the field of vision. As the problem progresses, blindness may occur. In most cases, both eyes are affected and the condition is prevalent among smokers. For that reason, it is sometimes called tobacco mblyopia. Those who consume excessive amounts of alcohol or come into contact with methanol, digitalis, chloramphenicol, lead and other chemicals are also at higher risk of developing toxic amblyopia.

Inflammation of the optic nerve – An inflammation such as this, which may occur as a result of a systemic illness or infection can be another cause of vision loss. In many cases however, the exact cause cannot be determined. With this condition, it’s usually only one eye that is affected but sometimes it can affect both and vision loss in various degrees may occur over the course of a few days.

The regimen outlined below includes a holistic approach to maintaining healthy eyes, therefore preventing vision loss:

The eyes, like every other part of the body needed to be nourished and cared for properly. Eating a healthy diet which contains sufficient amounts of vitamins & minerals is essential in maintaining healthy eyes.

Vegetables like carrots, green vegetables, watercress, cauliflower, seeds, broccoli and raw cabbage should all be included in the diet.

Drink fresh carrot juice. This can help treat & alleviate some eye problems.

Sugar & white four should be eliminated from the diet.

Always protect the eyes from dangerous levels of UV exposure by wearing UV protective sunglasses when in the sun for long periods of time.

The following herbs and supplements are also beneficial in maintaining healthy eyes:

Free-form amino acid complex (take as directed on label) – Provides needed protein.

Glutathione (500 mg daily on an empty stomach) – Powerful antioxidant that protect the lenses of the eyes.

High-Potency Multivitamin and mineral complex (take as directed on label) – Provides are necessary nutrients in the proper balance.

Vitamin A (25,000 IU daily) Essential for proper eye function. Shields the eye from free radicals. Use emulsion form for easy assimilation.

Vitamin B complex (100 mg of each major B vitamin twice daily) – Needed for intracellular eye metabolism.

Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids (2,000 mg 3 times daily) – Antioxidant that reduces intraocular pressure.

Vitamin E (200 IU daily) – Important in healing and immunity.

Zinc (50 mg daily) – Deficiency has been linked to retinal detachment.

Cayenne, red raspberry leaves and bayberry bark when taken by mouth are beneficial.

Bilberry extract – Studies have shown this herb to improve normal and night vision.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 3rd April 2010

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Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 25th June 2009

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