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MD Stem Cells Shows Retinal Eye Disease Responds to Stem Cells With Significant Vision Improvement

Retinal photograph of Retinitis Pigmentosa

Blinding retinal eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa seen to make major gains in visual acuity following adult stem cell therapy in the United States.

We are very pleased with the visual improvement. The normal course of this retinal disease is progression leading to ever worsening vision. With our stem cell treatment we are seeing a reversal.
— Dr. Levy, President of MD Stem Cells
RIDGEFIELD, CT, June 18, 2013 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Losing your vision slowly but progressively is one the most frightening things anyone can experience. Knowing that a disease will relentlessly rob you of your sight and there is nothing conventional medicine can do about it is a horrible weight on any person. This is especially heartbreaking during adolescence when parents may have to watch vision loss affect their child in so many ways- impacting their ability to interact with friends easily on social media and text messaging or finding they are not able to obtain a driver’s license. Progressive loss of vision is what millions of people around the world experience in the prime of their lives from eye disease including macular degeneration, hereditary retinopathies, glaucoma and optic nerve damage. MD Stem Cells has been successfully addressing a number of eye diseases with adult stem cells including age related macular degeneration where visual improvements have been independently confirmed (http://bit.ly/11WwOvv).

Retinitis Pigmentosa, abbreviated as RP, is one of the more commonly inherited retinal diseases. The disease typically begins in the teens or early 20’s depending on the gene that has been inherited. Symptoms of Retinitis Pigmentosa include night blindness or nyctolopia defined as difficulty seeing in the dark or dim light. Often there is a ‘ring scotoma’ or ring shaped visual defect where objects will disappear and come back as the eye moves around. As time goes on patients may progress to legal blindness and then potentially to near total blindness. On retinal exam the ophthalmologist sees certain changes in the retina including pigment clumping or spicule formation, atrophy of the normal color of the back of the eye and optic nerve pallor or loss of the nerve’s pink color.

Before the availability of adult stem cell treatment progressive vision loss was assumed to be inevitable. MD Stem Cells is pleased to report on the exciting visual improvements in 2 patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa treated with BMSC or bone marrow derived adult stem cells.

“We have early results to report on patients treated with BMSC adult stem cells” indicates Dr. Levy, President of MD Stem Cells. "Normal vision is considered 20/20. The Snellen Eye Chart defines vision by comparing the top number of a normal eye to the bottom number of the patient - the larger the bottom number, the poorer the vision. We can also convert to decimal for comparison purposes. Both our patients had experienced severe visual loss. One patient was Count Fingers at 3 feet in both eyes or in Snellen Acuity 20/2666 (decimal .007). The other had Hand Motion or what would be considered about Snellen Acuity 20/20,000 (decimal .001) in one eye and 20/60 (.3) in the other.

“In the first patient our retinal surgeon recorded improvement to 20/400 (.05) in both eyes. The second patient had his worse eye improve to 20/200 ( .1) which could Pinhole - an approximation to having glasses- to 20/80 (.25). His other eye improved from 20/60 (.3) to 20/40 (.5)” reported Dr. Levy. “This represents an improvement in decimal vision notation from .007 to 5% , from .001 to 25% and from 30 to 50% of normal visual acuity- all remarkable results. In the worse eye, one might think of this as up to a 250 times multiple of visual function over this patient's baseline vision.”

Dr. Levy remarked, “We are very pleased with the visual improvement. The normal course of this retinal disease is progression leading to ever worsening vision. With our stem cell treatment we are seeing a reversal."

MD Stem Cells attributes this success to 3 key parts of their stem cell therapy: First, bone marrow stem cells are used. Previous reports have indicated that the unique stem cells found in a person’s own bone marrow are similarly pluripotent as embryonic stem cells (http://bit.ly/11ckEuK), making them more effective than adipose stem cells. Second, the comfortable bone marrow harvest technique being used can provide billions of cells for the treatment (http://bit.ly/11IKeqw). Third, the retinal surgeon is placing the stem cells in several places around the retina including retrobulbar, subtenons, intravitreal and intravenous (http://bit.ly/17jcgCd). In this way the stem cells have the best opportunity to improve vision.

How can a hereditary or genetic condition respond to a patient’s own stem cells? Dr. Levy opines: “We are born with all our genes present but abnormal protein production or environmental factors perhaps require years to cause disease. Stem cells may be resetting the clock. Our stem cell treatment may be regarded as a cellular tissue transfer from an area of high stem cell activity to a damaged area of the body. The medical literature has reports of stem cell effects which are likely manifest in their original location and resume in the damaged tissue to which they are transferred. “

“What is most important is that our patients are thrilled with their improved ability to function in their day to day activities” remarked Dr. Levy, “When they tell us that they have not seen this well for many, many years, it’s just heartwarming. The best improvement possible in visual function is what we are constantly striving for.”

If you or a family member has eye disease or another chronic neurologic or medical condition get the facts about improvements that can be provided by the right team of doctors. For a complete list of press releases email PR@mdstemcells.com. For specific questions email info@mdstemcells.com or visit the MD Stem Cells website: www.mdstemcells.com. Follow them on Twitter at: @mdstemcells.com

About MD Stem Cells
MD Stem Cells is a trusted source of the latest information regarding clinically available adult stem cell treatments, coordinates patient referrals and manages the treatment process for patients and providers. MD Stem Cells works with stem cell treatment providers both in the United States and Europe.



Press Release courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/17ks9s5

Steven Levy MD
MD Stem Cells
203-423-9494
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