Gene therapy technique shows potential for repairing damage caused by glaucoma and dementia miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Globally 78 million people have glaucoma. That is every one in 200 people aged 40, which rises to one in eight by age 80.
Most people with glaucoma are not aware of it as most glaucoma patients have zero symptoms.
Catch the disease early and you have a great chance of preserving your vision for the years to come.
Ahead of World Glaucoma Week (7-13 March 2021, #glaucomaweek), Australian researchers published the largest genetic study of glaucoma identifying 44 new genetic variants that may lead to new treatment targets.
Ten Australian institutions involving some of the country’s most prominent glaucoma researchers – including Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor Jamie Craig and Flinders University colleagues with the Australian and New Zealand Registry of Advanced Glaucoma (ANZRAG) consortium – were involved in the international effort which analysed genes in more than 34,000 people with glaucoma across multiple ancestries for the first time.
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Advancing gene therapy for new glaucoma treatments
When a patient is diagnosed with glaucoma, their treatment will focus on slowing down or stopping the disease to prevent vision loss.
Glaucoma causes progressive damage to the optic nerve, the vital transport system which sends visual information from the eye to the brain.
“If glaucoma is left untreated or detected late it can lead to irreversible vision loss,” explains CERA Managing Director and world-renowned glaucoma researcher Professor Keith Martin.
“Currently, most glaucoma treatment focuses on reducing eye pressure to prevent damage to the optic nerve.
“But these treatments don’t work for about 15 per cent of patients and there is nothing we can do to repair the damage to the optic nerve once it has occurred – or to restore vision that has been lost.”
Bionic Vision Technologies Advances Clinical Program With AU$1 million Medical Research Future Fund Grant
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MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Bionic Vision Technologies (BVT) has started work on the next phase of development for its world-leading Australian bionic eye technology thanks to a recent Australian Government grant to refine its vision processing algorithms.
BVT s bionic eye is designed for people with the inherited retinal disease retinitis pigmentosa for which there is no current cure.
Clinical study data from patients implanted with the device show the prosthesis is safe and gives significant improvements to functional vision and quality of life. Users reported an improved awareness of external objects and surroundings.
Bionic Vision Technologies Advances Clinical Program With AU$1 million Medical Research Future Fund Grant fnarena.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fnarena.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.