A Florida doctor swore by the controversial stem cell treatment as a cure for blindness. While standard doctors will claim that there is still no treatment for vision loss, the doctor claimed that he already found it.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Weiss of Margate, Fla., he already provided the stem cell treatment for more than 100 people with vision loss problems and they were all effective in restoring their vision. His procedure often involves him extracting bone marrow from his patients and then injecting this into their eyes. The Baltimore Sun reported that what was remarkable about the doctor's claim is that he is not affiliated with any university or government institution. Therefore, he did not have the chance to test out his stem cell theories on lab animals or through controlled clinical trials. And yet, he said the treatment was applied to 278 blind humans...and it worked. If the medical community will be hard pressed to believe this, it is worrying that some patients desperate to finally see will likely believe these untested claims.
He have patients backing his claim though. According to Vanna Belton, who paid $20,000 to be given the stem cell treatment, her optic neuritis was cured because of this. Despite her claims, the medical community still has its doubts.
Dr. Alexis G. Malkin, who examined Belton prior and after the controversial procedure said that the treatment did not restore the patient's 20/20 vision. The doctor said that Belton can still be considered legally blind. At best, Belton will only be able to see with the use of eyeglasses or contact lenses. Also, because no one understands why Belton lost her vision in the first place, it is also difficult to say if the stem cell treatment is the one that "cured" her.
People with vision loss might be provided with hope on news about this treatment. However, until further research can be done, they should remain cautious. They should certainly not lose hope, because scientists are said to be closing on the cure already, even if not yet today. For example in the UK, Ulster University has received additional funding to develop a revolutionary treatment for a eye condition that led to blinds of more than 250,000 British people alone.