Daily Archives: August 13, 2009

Gene Therapy Restores Vision

Posted on August 13, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Gene Therapy SurgeryScientists at the University of Florida Restore Some Sight to Three Adult Patients with Congenital Vision Loss

One year ago the retina of two men and one woman in their 20s were injected with a harmless virus that contained vision correcting genes.  All three patients lived with severe vision loss from a congenital problem call Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis Type 2.  A gene responsible for a necessary protein used in the visual process is defective, gene therapy fixes the failed gene.  One year after the gene therapy treatment these patients reporting being able to see light which was a significant improvement in their vision.  One of the patients reported that she was able to see her parents clock, she had never been able to do this before.  The study has two more years to run and it is likely that more patients will be added.

This is a very exciting medical development and shows that gene therapy holds great promise.  There are so many genetic conditions, not only in the eye but the entire body, that can benefit from this type of treatment.  Much research still needs to be done, however this lays the groundwork for promising future development. The exciting thing about this discovery is that it shows that it is possible to fix bad genes and improve people’s lives.

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Posted in Low Vision, Retina, Vision

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Computer Glasses Help Reduce Eyestrain & Neck Pain

Posted on August 13, 2009 by | 2 comments

Computer glasses can not only help reduce eyestrain but they also reduce neck pain at your desk.  Numerous factors need to be addressed to maximize your comfort and effectiveness while working at the computer.  Computer related eyestrain is especially common for those approaching their 50s and above.

When working at our computer we often find ourselves raising our chin to make the monitor clear.  This puts our neck in a very bad, uncomfortable position.  Everyone that experiences neck pain should see their eye doctor about computer glasses. A few minutes to read a quick email is not a problem, however the longer you spend in this position the worse it is for your eyes, your posture and your neck.  Computer glasses place your monitor in the proper focus allowing you to look directly at the monitor while still allowing you to view reading material at a normal reading distance.

Another important consideration while working at the computer is your blinking.  When we work at the computer we become so engrossed in what we are doing that our blink rate goes down which increases the symptoms of dry eye syndrome.  The video below gives a good summary of computer vision syndrome and computer glasses.

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Posted in computer, Computer Vision, Ehlers-Danlos, Refractive issues, video

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