Treating Macular Degeneration With Stem Cells

Clinical trial using induced pluripotent stem cells to treat age related macular degeneration.

Treating macular degeneration with stem cells.

The nih is planning the first u s. In a dramatic development research is underway to use induced pluri potent stem cells for the treatment of macular degeneration because these cells would be made from the same person eliminating the need for immuno suppressive drugs as well as any religious objections. Stem cell derived retinal pigmented epithelial cells cell borders are green and nuclei are red which researchers implanted in the eyes of two patients with macular degeneration finding the. Patients with age related macular degeneration amd often ask whether stem cell therapy might improve their vision now or at some point in the future.

However no stem cell therapy options are currently fda approved and all such treatments should be considered experimental in nature. It s not a treatment for blindness he says. Stem cell treatment for amd surgical technique was the only available option as a treatment of amd till the discovery of stem cells. But to test the safety of this first ever in humans treatment.

Stem cells technology has changed the approach as the only available non surgical method that can reverse the damage and stop the progression of the amd. Doctors are looking for ways to use these cells to either replace or heal damaged cells that cause macular degeneration. A stem cell is a type of cell that is undifferentiated meaning that it can become any type of cell within the body. In the end there are many options for treating macular degeneration but only stem cell therapy shows the potential to halt and possibly reverse the damage done by the disease.

The concept is that stem cells are undifferentiated meaning that they have the potential to develop into many different cell types including retinal cells which can then replace cells that have died due to amd. To replenish these cells scientists change cells from one type to another using specific proteins called yamanaka factors our technique goes directly from skin cell to photoreceptor without the need for stem cells in between yamanaka factors revolutionized the field of stem cell therapy. Doctors are also experimenting with the use of stem cells to assist with macular degeneration.