Restoring vision

SameOldStory · 11-03-2010, 03:10 PM

I'm putting this here because I've read where several people have mentioned poor eyesight or family members with poor to no useful visual acuity.

I'm also putting this here because more people will see it than if I put it in the "Lounge".

Lastly, one article does mention the ability to read again, though limited, of one individual. So I figure I can get away with it.

================================================== =================

Implanted Retinal Chip Allows Blind People To See

"Founding Director of Retinal Implant AG, Dr. Eberhart Zrenner, said:
The results of this pilot study provide strong evidence that the visual functions of patients blinded by a hereditary retinal dystrophy can, in principle, be restored to a degree sufficient for use in daily life."

"Prof. Dr. Zrenner wrote:
The present study..presents proof-of-concept that such devices can restore useful vision in blind human subjects, even though the ultimate goal of broad clinical application will take time to develop."

Subretinal electronic chips allow blind patients to read letters and combine them to words.

"One of these patients was able to correctly describe and name objects like a fork or knife on a table, geometric patterns, different kinds of fruit and discern shades of grey with only 15 per cent contrast. Without a training period, the regained visual functions enabled him to localize and approach persons in a room freely and to read large letters as complete words after several years of blindness"

Not that I would like it, but I could lose my voice or hearing and be ok. I don't even want to think of losing my sight.

pizda · 11-04-2010, 05:33 PM

It seems that they might be able to cure all blind people. I saw on Discovery Science research about a blind man who painted like an ordinary man. The electromagnetic scan of his brain activity when he was thinking of his painting showed that he was using the same parts of his brain which are used for vison but he learnt everything by touching objects.

Debi · 11-04-2010, 05:50 PM

Ah man!!! you had my hopes up for my brother.

Too bad the cataracts were hereditary and the retinal detachment was the result of a laser surgery gone wrong.

Debi

SameOldStory · 11-04-2010, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debi

Ah man!!! you had my hopes up for my brother.

Too bad the cataracts were hereditary and the retinal detachment was the result of a laser surgery gone wrong.

Debi

You've got my attention. I was thinking of possibly having it done at some time in the future.

Debi · 11-04-2010, 08:46 PM

SOS, I would hope you aren't facing the same set of circumstances as my brother...cataract surgery about 50 years ago when it was done MUCH differently than it is today. Back in the mid 80's some quack (my opinion) convinced him that using a laser to destroy the bits of the lens left in the eye would improve his vision. Why he chose to let them do it on his good eye I have no idea. About 4 years later he noticed a major change in his vision which turned out to be a detaching retina. After 3 failed attempts to reattach it the vision was gone.

I'm sure they've learned a lot in the last 25 years. People have it done all the time. I won't be one of them. What little vision I have I am not willing to gamble with. If I had none I'd be at the front of the line for every experimental treatment that came along.

DixieGal · 11-04-2010, 09:16 PM

My retinal blindness got sooooo much worse last week. On the flight home from Germany, my eye exploded. I had a major hemorrhage, and it's a mess. Complete blackness on the right. I got a shot of Avastin in the eye, and they are waiting a month for the blood to settle out as much as possible before vitrectomy #4. (Retina surgery #14!)

I hope it never gets to the point of inserting digital chips into my eyes. But I will do whatever it takes to keep vision, however limited it might be.

bjones6416 · 11-04-2010, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

My retinal blindness got sooooo much worse last week. On the flight home from Germany, my eye exploded. I had a major hemorrhage, and it's a mess. Complete blackness on the right. I got a shot of Avastin in the eye, and they are waiting a month for the blood to settle out as much as possible before vitrectomy #4. (Retina surgery #14!)

I hope it never gets to the point of inserting digital chips into my eyes. But I will do whatever it takes to keep vision, however limited it might be.

Oh, the rest of that flight must have been really scary -- I'm so sorry. I hope this next surgery works out well for you, but I agree, I'd do whatever it takes to keep vision.

pendragginp · 11-05-2010, 03:07 AM

DixieGal that's awful, I'm so sorry!

Best of luck with your surgery.

sabredog · 11-05-2010, 05:18 AM

Dixiegal, that is truly nasty. I hope all goes well.

My mother had 3 retinal detachments in the early eighties. Very scary. Now she has been told she has two aneurysms in her brain, of which an operation could blind her or kill her. Either choice is pretty bad. They were detected after her neurologist diagnosed silent migraines and the MRI picked them up. Apparently 1 in 5 of us have brain aneurysms and do not know.

My eyesight is over -10 in each eye. Legally blind if you will. I started wearing glasses when I was eight and switched to contacts 25 years ago.

My specialist has told me that I cannot have laser surgery as my eyes are too bad, but a friend has had contacts inserted surgically, so I will be asking my specialist about that next check-up.

The good news is that my eyes have not deteriorated since I started wearing contact lenses.

SameOldStory · 11-05-2010, 01:23 PM

While my eyesight is slowly going, it is nowhere near as bad as some of you are relating. It's too personal a problem to say anything meaningful. So I'll only say that I hope the best for all of you.

WT Sharpe · 11-05-2010, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

My retinal blindness got sooooo much worse last week. On the flight home from Germany, my eye exploded. I had a major hemorrhage, and it's a mess. Complete blackness on the right. I got a shot of Avastin in the eye, and they are waiting a month for the blood to settle out as much as possible before vitrectomy #4. (Retina surgery #14!)

I hope it never gets to the point of inserting digital chips into my eyes. But I will do whatever it takes to keep vision, however limited it might be.

Cripes! You might have to give up flying. I hope the eye gets better soon. You've certainly had your share of vision problems. Wishing you the best of luck with the surgery!

WT Sharpe · 11-05-2010, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

You've got my attention. I was thinking of possibly having it done at some time in the future.

I've heard that for the majority of patients, laser surgery has been everything they've hoped for, and the doctors are getting better at it; but when things go wrong, as they do all too often, they go very horribly wrong. I'll stick with reading glasses as long as that's an option.

beppe · 11-05-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

But I will do whatever it takes to keep vision, however limited it might be.

Oh dear, i do hope that everything will be fine for you and send you my warmest best wishes. And a big kiss.

kennyc · 11-05-2010, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

My retinal blindness got sooooo much worse last week. On the flight home from Germany, my eye exploded. I had a major hemorrhage, and it's a mess. Complete blackness on the right. I got a shot of Avastin in the eye, and they are waiting a month for the blood to settle out as much as possible before vitrectomy #4. (Retina surgery #14!)

I hope it never gets to the point of inserting digital chips into my eyes. But I will do whatever it takes to keep vision, however limited it might be.

Oh No! Sorry!

Sparrow · 11-05-2010, 06:21 PM

Good luck DixieGal, and to all suffering vision problems - best wishes for a positive outcome.

11-04-2010, 09:16 PM	#6
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,472 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	My retinal blindness got sooooo much worse last week. On the flight home from Germany, my eye exploded. I had a major hemorrhage, and it's a mess. Complete blackness on the right. I got a shot of Avastin in the eye, and they are waiting a month for the blood to settle out as much as possible before vitrectomy #4. (Retina surgery #14!) I hope it never gets to the point of inserting digital chips into my eyes. But I will do whatever it takes to keep vision, however limited it might be. __________________ Click to get my husband's book

11-05-2010, 03:07 AM	#8
pendragginp Guru Posts: 639 Karma: 1252411 Join Date: May 2009 Location: The End Of The Earth Device: Several	DixieGal that's awful, I'm so sorry! Best of luck with your surgery. __________________ DRM says 'Yes you actually paid for this book, but you're only allowed to read it IN OUR STORE.' Last edited by pendragginp; 11-05-2010 at 03:10 AM.

11-05-2010, 01:23 PM	#10
SameOldStory My True Self Posts: 3,125 Karma: 66231034 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Trantor, Galactic Center Device: Galaxy Tab 2 7.0	While my eyesight is slowly going, it is nowhere near as bad as some of you are relating. It's too personal a problem to say anything meaningful. So I'll only say that I hope the best for all of you. __________________ ..Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough. - Mark Twain

11-05-2010, 06:21 PM	#15
Sparrow Wizard Posts: 4,400 Karma: 1358102 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3	Good luck DixieGal, and to all suffering vision problems - best wishes for a positive outcome. __________________ "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened." - Winston Churchill

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11-03-2010, 03:10 PM	#1
SameOldStory My True Self Posts: 3,125 Karma: 66231034 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Trantor, Galactic Center Device: Galaxy Tab 2 7.0	Restoring vision I'm putting this here because I've read where several people have mentioned poor eyesight or family members with poor to no useful visual acuity. I'm also putting this here because more people will see it than if I put it in the "Lounge". Lastly, one article does mention the ability to read again, though limited, of one individual. So I figure I can get away with it. ================================================== ================= Implanted Retinal Chip Allows Blind People To See "Founding Director of Retinal Implant AG, Dr. Eberhart Zrenner, said: The results of this pilot study provide strong evidence that the visual functions of patients blinded by a hereditary retinal dystrophy can, in principle, be restored to a degree sufficient for use in daily life." "Prof. Dr. Zrenner wrote: The present study..presents proof-of-concept that such devices can restore useful vision in blind human subjects, even though the ultimate goal of broad clinical application will take time to develop." Subretinal electronic chips allow blind patients to read letters and combine them to words. "One of these patients was able to correctly describe and name objects like a fork or knife on a table, geometric patterns, different kinds of fruit and discern shades of grey with only 15 per cent contrast. Without a training period, the regained visual functions enabled him to localize and approach persons in a room freely and to read large letters as complete words after several years of blindness" Not that I would like it, but I could lose my voice or hearing and be ok. I don't even want to think of losing my sight. __________________ ..Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough. - Mark Twain

11-04-2010, 05:33 PM	#2
pizda Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: kindle, iPad	It seems that they might be able to cure all blind people. I saw on Discovery Science research about a blind man who painted like an ordinary man. The electromagnetic scan of his brain activity when he was thinking of his painting showed that he was using the same parts of his brain which are used for vison but he learnt everything by touching objects.

11-04-2010, 05:50 PM	#3
Debi Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 19018 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Virginia Device: Sony PRS 900, 600, 350, T1 & Tablet S	Ah man!!! you had my hopes up for my brother. Too bad the cataracts were hereditary and the retinal detachment was the result of a laser surgery gone wrong. Debi

11-04-2010, 08:46 PM	#5
Debi Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 19018 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Virginia Device: Sony PRS 900, 600, 350, T1 & Tablet S	SOS, I would hope you aren't facing the same set of circumstances as my brother...cataract surgery about 50 years ago when it was done MUCH differently than it is today. Back in the mid 80's some quack (my opinion) convinced him that using a laser to destroy the bits of the lens left in the eye would improve his vision. Why he chose to let them do it on his good eye I have no idea. About 4 years later he noticed a major change in his vision which turned out to be a detaching retina. After 3 failed attempts to reattach it the vision was gone. I'm sure they've learned a lot in the last 25 years. People have it done all the time. I won't be one of them. What little vision I have I am not willing to gamble with. If I had none I'd be at the front of the line for every experimental treatment that came along.

11-05-2010, 05:18 AM	#9
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,549 Karma: 14516829 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-300/650/T1, iPad2, K3(wife's)	Dixiegal, that is truly nasty. I hope all goes well. My mother had 3 retinal detachments in the early eighties. Very scary. Now she has been told she has two aneurysms in her brain, of which an operation could blind her or kill her. Either choice is pretty bad. They were detected after her neurologist diagnosed silent migraines and the MRI picked them up. Apparently 1 in 5 of us have brain aneurysms and do not know. My eyesight is over -10 in each eye. Legally blind if you will. I started wearing glasses when I was eight and switched to contacts 25 years ago. My specialist has told me that I cannot have laser surgery as my eyes are too bad, but a friend has had contacts inserted surgically, so I will be asking my specialist about that next check-up. The good news is that my eyes have not deteriorated since I started wearing contact lenses.

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