Release date: 2016-07-11
According to a German study, the stimulation of brain nerves by electrical impulses may help some blind patients recover their vision.
A staff member involved in the study said that many eye diseases, such as glaucoma, are caused by permanent damage to the optic nerve, which brings fear and pain to the patient at any time, but this new research technique will Start the brain's visual control center and bring hope to patients with eye diseases.
The study first developed a 10-day treatment plan: the electrical pulse was allowed to enter the patient's eye for an hour each day, said Dr. Bernhard Sabel, author of the study, by which the current entering the eye was connected through the retina. Go to the brain and stimulate the brain nerves to improve and improve the patient's vision.
According to statistics from the American Glaucoma Research Foundation, there are currently about 3 million glaucoma patients in the United States who have not been cured, and about 120,000 patients with glaucoma blindness.
“Because of the strong concealment of glaucoma and the long incubation period, if you find it early, you can slow down the disease and avoid losing your sight by taking drugs, eye drops and traditional laser surgery. But unfortunately, because of early glaucoma Asymptomatic, painless, many patients' vision is glaucoma after some damage, and it is too late," a doctor said.
In this study, most of the patients who were focused on were diagnosed with glaucoma between 2010 and 2012. Two-thirds of the patients were close to blindness, and the remaining patients had other types of visual impairment. More than half of these patients receive electrical pulse stimulation and some receive medical treatment.
Two days after the end of treatment, the group of patients who received electrical stimulation increased their visual acuity by 24%. This improved level lasted for two months, but compared to another group of patients receiving medication, their visual acuity levels. Increased by less than 3%.
Bernhard Sabel said: "In the course of treatment, some patients saw hope for vision recovery in the future, but some patients did not realize this, they did not feel that electric pulse stimulation treatment can bring benefits to treatment, I don't know what caused them to think so, but I'm sure that the electric pulse stimulation treatment is safe and only has very mild side effects. The patients who received the treatment did not feel uncomfortable throughout the treatment, which proves this. One point, so we don't need to do more experiments to prove that electrical pulse therapy is useful."
But Bernhard Sabel’s views were questioned.
Professor Alfred Sommer of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said: "This is indeed a new study for other eye diseases such as glaucoma, but the benefits to patients are actually unclear. The study clearly does not reverse optic neuropathy. The cause of glaucoma or optic neuritis does not achieve the purpose of healing."
It is reported that the research results were published recently in the international academic journal PLOS ONE.
Source: Medical Valley Translation
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