New Cures For Blindness?

Look out, baby boomers. Vision Australia Foundation estimates that there are currently 380,000 Australians with legal blindness or low vision. By 2030 this number is expected to double as a result of the ageing population. One science fiction-like solution may be a bionic eye. Prototypes have been implanted in blind people, and have restored some sight. One version uses three components: a miniature video camera mounted on an eyeglass frame, a signal processor that translates the image, and a brain implant that "sees" the outside world. All the models are still experimental, risky and expensive, but researchers expect to fine-tune their inventions over the next few years. Meanwhile, new treatments are emerging that target specific eye diseases.

• Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Surgical advances are making cataract surgery safer, quicker and more effective. No-stitch procedures, tinier cuts and so-called phaco-chop - dissolving the cataract with an ultrasonic probe - have made for faster recoveries. The new lenses correct astigmatisms and provide bifocal vision.
   
• Diabetic retinopathy affects one third of the 800,000 Australians with diabetes. Retinal blood vessels break down, leak or cause swelling. Doctors think the same experimental drugs used to combat "wet" macular degeneration may help treat this disease. Right now, laser therapy and vitrectomy - removal and replacement of the jelly-like fluid of the eye - can prevent blindness for 90 per cent of patients.
   
• Advanced dry macular degeneration, the withering of retinal tissue, has no effective treatment. The disease causes severe vision loss, and millions are at risk. Under study is an experimental technique called rheopheresis, in which a patient's blood is siphoned from one arm, filtered to remove potentially damaging fats and proteins, and returned via the other. The controversial theory is that eliminating "macromolecules" may boost healthy blood flow to the retina.