First the ear now the eye

Interesting but if I ever lost part or all my vision, I would just go to China and get stem cells. There's alot more cases of people improving their vision than hearing with stem cells. The RI(retinal implant) will never be popular as it's too late when stem cells is available, safer and better. The CI has been used on tens of thousands of deaf people but the RI has been used on maybe a few dozen blind people. So the RI is unproven and experimental anyway.
 
deafdude,

Why do you think a retinal implant carries more risks than stem cells? There are numerous cases of congenitally blind people who have implants and are doing quite well. Just curious as to how you arrived at this conclusion. Thanks in advance for any explanation you can share.
 
Since I was born blind, I wouldn't opt for a retinal implant. However, I think it would be a great option for children, adults who have suddenly lost their vision or the elderly who can no longer drive. When I was in blind rehab, I heard clients talk about how emotionally difficult it was to lose their sight and almost all of them shed many tears. I also experienced the same when I started training at my local deafblind center. To be fair, I think we should give this enough time to develop before writing it off and dismissing it.
 
Although I've had to go through both vision and hearing loss, for some reason the CI and RI don't sit well with me. I guess it's because it seems to bionic to me. However I can definitely appreciate others who experience vision or hearing loss that want to get the RI or CI.
 
A thread of light in the middle of blindness?

deafdude1 said:
Interesting but if I ever lost part or all my vision, I would just go to China and get stem cells. There's alot more cases of people improving their vision than hearing with stem cells. The RI(retinal implant) will never be popular as it's too late when stem cells is available, safer and better. The CI has been used on tens of thousands of deaf people but the RI has been used on maybe a few dozen blind people. So the RI is unproven and experimental anyway.
Click to expand...

A THREAD OF LIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF BLINDNESS?

see
- spanish: - EL MUNDO | Suplemento cronica 727 - ¿UN HILO DE LUZ EN MEDIO DE LA CEGUERA?

or

translation Google Traductor
 
When I was in blind rehab, I heard clients talk about how emotionally difficult it was to lose their sight and almost all of them shed many tears.
Click to expand...
Most blind people gradually aquirred their sight loss right?
Isn't the largest group of blind folks the elderly?
 
deafdyke said:
Most blind people gradually aquirred their sight loss right?
Isn't the largest group of blind folks the elderly?
Click to expand...

Elderly people are the largest population to lose their vision, but that doesn't account for head traumas, diabetes or other conditions that cause sudden blindness. For example, two of my friends lost their vision in their early teens. One lost it to diabetes and the other to a rapidly developing eye condition which I can't remember at the moment.
 
DD,

Also keep in mind that losing *any* amount of sight can be devastating for someone. Your privacy is taken away and you rely on others to do things you can't (for example, drive you from place to place or read your mail). Most blind people are on fixed incomes, so they don't have the monetary means to afford today's blindness technology.
 
It can be 'devistating' because people around you start treating you differantly.

However, It is liveable. The problems with all these fixes is that people will be going off to china instead of learning braille or long cane tecnique.

Plus education/rehab needs to come first.

I actually find I can apreciate art better now with no vision then I did with low vision.
In case you are wondering I fluctuate between total deafblindness and having a very small amount of vision (like shapes and shadows but that might go.)
 
Hear Again said:
DD,

Also keep in mind that losing *any* amount of sight can be devastating for someone. Your privacy is taken away and you rely on others to do things you can't (for example, drive you from place to place or read your mail). Most blind people are on fixed incomes, so they don't have the monetary means to afford today's blindness technology.
Click to expand...

:gpost::gpost:
 
Yes, it's devestating at first, but they you just have to move on. If people would stop treating me so differantly and calling the cops every time I get lost, then I think being deafblind would be no big deal.
 
Cheri Robertson (aka robochick)

I apologize for the lack of captions(it was when if aired on tv). The video shows a profile of Cheri Robertson(she likes to call herself RoboChick), she was one of the first to use the Doebelle Eye system.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEHpwaUDk3U]YouTube - Bionic Eye interfaced with the Visual Cortex of the Brain[/ame]
 
Last edited:
dreama said:
Yes, it's devestating at first, but they you just have to move on. If people would stop treating me so differantly and calling the cops every time I get lost, then I think being deafblind would be no big deal.
Click to expand...

:roll: Managed to squeeze out of that situation a few times, thankfully.
 
healing the blind.

Hear Again said:
deafdude,

Why do you think a retinal implant carries more risks than stem cells? There are numerous cases of congenitally blind people who have implants and are doing quite well. Just curious as to how you arrived at this conclusion. Thanks in advance for any explanation you can share.
Click to expand...

Retinal implant could bring sight to blind says MIT team - SlashGear

Lots of wires wrapped around the eye. Wrap a piece of string around your finger 10x and now imagine the same being done to the eye.

Microchip Implantation

20/1800 is the best vision achieved.

Artificial retinal implants designed to restore visual acuity in the blind - OpticsReport

20/400 vision in black and white. Older article.

Vision improvement in retinal degeneration patient...[Am J Ophthalmol. 2008] - PubMed Result

70% improvement rate. 2 patients saw worse with RI! One went from 20/800 to 20/200!

Bionic Vision for the Blind - Retinal implant? Eye surgery?

The insertion of a foreign object in the eye in the form of chronic implantation of a retinal implant may have a number of undesirable side effects, such as retinal microaneurysm formation, damage to retinal capillaries, bleeding and retinal detachment. Can the resolution of retinal implants be increased without exceeding safety limits for current density? Can one electrically stimulate the retina for many years without damaging it beyond repair? It is known that chronic neural stimulation by electrodes can damage or kill neurons, and in fact any overexcitation may lead to nerve cell death. Apart from this, great care must be taken to ensure that microchip implants will not increase the risk of cancer, through foreign body reactions.

Even though retinal implants are not even on the market yet, they may eventually be eclipsed by products of a more biochemical nature for which biocompatibility and high spatial resolution may be easier to achieve. In the not so distant future, treatment combinations with stem cell therapy, precursor cell therapy (transplanting developing retinal cells at later stages, closer to photoreceptor differentiation), gene therapy (gene-transfer, e.g., turning retinal nerve cells into photoreceptors by adding genes that support melanopsin or rhodopsin production through a virus carrying healthy gene copies), retinal regeneration, eye surgery for immature retina transplants, and the use of growth factors and other pharmaceutical therapy might largely replace the use of electronic retinal implants, avoid any cell tissue overheating problems with electronic implants altogether and allow for restoring close to normal vision with retinal diseases like RP and AMD that only affect the rods and cones (light receptors) in the retina. In that sense, future electronic retinal implants may turn out to form a temporary technology in a rapidly evolving market, with limited commercial prospects if it becomes obsolete too soon.

Blind Girl, 8, Sees Colors After Stem Cell Treatments - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com

Blind Girl, 8, Sees Colors After Stem Cell Treatments. This is something a RI can't even give.

Stem cells bring sight to the blind in India - Oct. 24, 2007

Stem cells bring sight to the blind in India
An eye institute in India has developed a way to grow new corneas from adult stem cells and restore sight to the blind.

Blind woman seeking stem-cell treatment

Todays stem cells has a 90% chance of improvement with no surgery or risks of seeing worse.
 
CJB said:
Although I've had to go through both vision and hearing loss, for some reason the CI and RI don't sit well with me. I guess it's because it seems to bionic to me. However I can definitely appreciate others who experience vision or hearing loss that want to get the RI or CI.
Click to expand...

I agree and this is why im getting stem cells for deafness. If I ever went blind, id get stem cells for that too.

neuro said:
A THREAD OF LIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF BLINDNESS?

see
- spanish: - EL MUNDO | Suplemento cronica 727 - ¿UN HILO DE LUZ EN MEDIO DE LA CEGUERA?

or

translation Google Traductor
Click to expand...


I saw this article elsewhere. That person was LP(light perception) in bad eye and 20/4000 in good eye. Stem cells has improved vision to 20/80 in good eye and bad eye is CF(count fingers) that person may get stem cells again to further improve vision, especially in bad eye.

dreama said:
It can be 'devistating' because people around you start treating you differantly.

However, It is liveable. The problems with all these fixes is that people will be going off to china instead of learning braille or long cane tecnique.

Plus education/rehab needs to come first.

I actually find I can apreciate art better now with no vision then I did with low vision.
In case you are wondering I fluctuate between total deafblindness and having a very small amount of vision (like shapes and shadows but that might go.)
Click to expand...

I am going off to China to treat my deafness and if I ever went blind, id treat that too. It is your opinion that blindness is livable. I could not deal with being blind. Id have no way to communicate or be independant and I could not walk anywhere without another person holding my hand. It would be far easier for me to just seek treatment than try to adapt to blindness. The technology is there, I am going to take advantage of it. I notice you aren't a fan of modern medicine, that is your choice. I have made my choice and speak for myself.
 
Back
Top