Dear Dr. SerVaas: Might stem cell therapy help produce new nerve fibers for an optic nerve that has been damaged by glaucoma?
Dear Reader: Glaucoma expert Dr. WuDunn of Indiana University School of Medicine again responds:
"Stem cell therapy is probably a long way off, but it certainly has potential. Any way that you can regenerate optic nerve or any type of nerve tissue has some promise, because now we have no way of restoring any damaged nerve tissue.
"Stem cells have the potential not just for the optic nerve, but also for the pressure control. We think that pressure gets elevated because the cells in the drains of the eye are not functioning well. They show senescence or aging and appear much older than they should be. By using stem cells, we could perhaps regenerate these cells, which may help control eye pressure better because drains will function better."
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