The vision loss due to LSCD makes this disease not only costly, but often requires social support due to the enormous impact on the patient’s quality of life. This is further magnified by the fact that LSCD mostly affects young patients.
After undergoing various treatments with creams and washes Turnbull became a guinea pig for trials towards his eventual stem cell procedure.
He was one of eight patients with impaired vision who have been treated successfully by surgeons at the North East England Stem Cell Institute.
The treatment involved using a tiny amount of stem cells from the good eye and growing them in a lab.
The growth was then implanted in the damaged eye, which then helped it to begin functioning as normal – eventually restoring sight.
While we in the United States continue to argue about how we can process embryos like peanut butter to make embryonic stem cells, advancements around the world are continuing to pile up using adult stem cells, the same stem cells the US Government has been funding since day one.
While we talk and politicize, the rest of the world thinks and fixes.