Indian Doctors Use Stem Cell Therapy to Treat Blindness

Doctors in India used stem cells to restore the vision of an NRI. This 22-year old had a sudden loss of vision due to accidental consumption of methanol. Stem cell therapist from the Institute of Spinal Injury and Stem Cell Research, Dr. Himanshu Bansal treated him at Laksha Hospital, Mylapore. For the first time stem cell therapy has been used to treat methanol-induced blindness.

The doctors in America had claimed his condition to be irreversible. Though the victim was treated with high dose steroids his condition went on deteriorating possibly due to cell death.

Methanol is highly toxic for humans and as little as 10ml ingestion can damage the optic nerve. In this case doctors aspirated about 120ml of autologous bone marrow from the patient's iliac crest and after concentrating it to 20ml they injected it in his optic nerve. A week after the procedure the patient's vision was 6/9 and is able to read and differentiate between colors.


Source: Medindia