Vision is one of our most critical senses that determines our quality of life. Studies have shown that vision loss has a greater impact on quality of life than serious diseases such as cancer. Despite this, eye health is often neglected. While most vision disorders can be corrected with glasses, problems such as cataracts seen in older ages can be treated with surgery. However, more serious vision losses resulting from retinal diseases require different and more advanced treatment methods.
Use of Stem Cell Therapy in Eye Health
Some retinal diseases can be treated with intraocular injections, which have become widespread in recent years. These treatments include bleeding and edema due to diabetes, retinal vascular occlusions and wet type macular degeneration. In genetically transmitted retinal diseases that occur at a young age and cause progressive vision loss, stem cell therapy appears as a promising method. Stem cells can spontaneously settle in a suitable growth environment, multiply, differentiate into other types of cells and produce new cell types. In addition, they have the ability to renew themselves and ensure the continuity of their own cell populations. Due to this potential, they can replace damaged cells in the retina and repair them.
The Importance of Early Diagnosis
The success of stem cell therapy depends on a number of criteria. First of all, the integrity of the eye must be intact. Stem cell therapy does not benefit patients with deformities or shrinkage in the eye. The second important criterion is the level of vision. Patients who are completely blind cannot benefit from stem cell therapy. Therefore, the ideal patient group consists of people whose vision loss is not too advanced. The main purpose of the treatment is to stop the progression of the disease. Increased vision and visual field expansion can be achieved in 60-80% of the treated patients. The better the vision before surgery, the greater the vision increase after surgery. Early diagnosis and treatment increase the success of the result obtained.
What are the Conditions for Stem Cell Application?
Getting the highest efficiency from this treatment method depends on some criteria. First of all, the eye structure must be completely intact and intact; there should be no deformity or shrinkage in the eye. In addition, the patient’s current vision level before starting stem cell treatment is also of critical importance. Individuals whose visual functions have been severely reduced or completely lost cannot benefit from this treatment. Therefore, the ideal patient group consists of patients whose vision loss is not yet advanced and whose retinal nerve structures have been relatively less damaged. The higher the vision level and the healthier the retina at the beginning, the higher the expectation of success after stem cell treatment.
The main purpose of stem cell treatment is to stop the progression of the disease. In addition, when certain conditions are met, vision increase and visual field expansion can also be achieved. Therefore, as in many diseases, early diagnosis and early intervention are of great importance in this case.
Areas of Use of Stem Cell Application
Stem cell applications are mostly used in hereditary retina, optic nerve and hereditary cornea diseases. Retinal diseases in which the application is made include night blindness (retinitis pigmentosa), Stargardt macular dystrophy, dry type of age-related macular degeneration (macular degeneration) and other degenerative retinal diseases. Optic nerve diseases include optic atrophies caused by glaucoma (eye tension), idiopathic, traumatic or other causes.
Stem cell treatment is a promising treatment method for patients with vision loss. However, early diagnosis and appropriate patient selection are extremely important for the success of this treatment. Protecting our eye health and getting expert help when necessary are of great importance in order to increase our quality of life.