And The Blind Shall See.
Hey,
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How the hell are you today.
Come on, a Thursday has to be better than a Monday, and matters will continue to improve as the week proceeds.
Tomorrow it will be a Friday and you can go out and get blind drunk if you choose to start your weekend with a bang.
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Talking about being blind.
There are so many great developments taking place.
And better treatments for cataracts.
And new breakthroughs in laser eye surgery.
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Did you read about the latest very good news for anyone suffering from an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, including conditions like inherited Choroideremia and those with Usher Syndrome
This severe degenerative condition which can result in blindness, affects at least 200,000 people all over the world.
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Science has moved on so much that German scientist Professor Zrenner of Tuebingen University, along with a private company, has created a retinal chip implant which has been tested upon blind people who have such eye conditions.
This blindness is caused when light receptors have been destroyed by the progress of the disease.
The new implants replace the lost receptors and restore partial sight again.
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One gentleman, who had the implants fitted behind his retina, was from Finland
He is called Mikka Terho, and he is 46.
Afterwards he could actually read his name, find people in the room, see a clock-face and recognise eating utensils upon a table.
As he got used to it he was actually able to correct the spelling of his name, which had been deliberately spelled wrongly as Mika.
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This first version had a connect coming out of the skin behind the ear to connect with a battery on the ear.
The next version will be self contained and there will be a device clipped to the ear to power it.
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Although Mikka later had the implants removed, he has been told that he will be able to try the upgraded version which should soon be produced.
There will now be more work done on this amazing breakthrough.
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A similar device has also been developed in America.
This chip sits on top of the retina and then works through a camera fixed to a pair of glasses that the recipient of the chip then wears.
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Aren’t these amazing developments for those unlucky people who have lost their sight now, or those who have been fearing the development of future blindness.
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Once again, ‘aint science great!
J,x.
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I’ve inherited somewhat poor vision from my father’s side, my sister too. I’ve thought about laser or lasik procedures to fix my eyes and stop wearing glasses/ contacts. But I think since the poorness/improvement changes frequently for me (+ or – 0.5 degree every year or so) – maybe I should wait until things stabilize or just keep wearing the googles
I find the glasses very useful in conducting rather tedious but technical meetings, don’t ask why 
Today is Remembrance Day and we celebrated it well. The weather was a great +12 today with no rain. The veterans showed up, governor general, etc.. Hearing soldiers from Afghanistan talk about their families dreams and hopes made me cry this morning. I’m a sobfest at military affairs. As we’ve both noted a couple of days ago, it’s sometimes hard to think about the minimal progress mankind made in terms of peace and understanding, but these men and women serving are a sign to me that a large portions still believes in the dream – so we ought to soldier on ourselves~
Today was a different day – I was all in fumes and twitching with anger over Amazon selling that dreadful pedophilia book.. thank god they took it off the shelves
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/11/11/pedophilia-book-removed-from-amazon-but-others-remain/
more > http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/11/amazon-com-title-defending-pedophilia-sparks-boycott-call/
Anyway.. sending you the best from this side of the Atlantic and thanks to your countrymen and women for their sacrifices
cheers,
nelly.
Hi Nelly,
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I am not surprised that you hesitate over getting your eyes fixed by laser techniques, if you have changeable vision.
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As you have probably read from my posts, I have gone through actually booking in for treatment in the London Clinic, and then cancelling it.
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What has always worried me is that there is always a small percentage who can have a problem….and that has to be somebody!
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I decided against my procedure because I read that having the treatment leaves the area that has been cut with much weaker tension than previously.
As I have already been told that I may have to have a cataract operation done later, it would be being done on eyes which have already been operated on and are therefore weaker.
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In my case I shall wait until I have no choice, and then have that other operation which has just become available, that replaces the lens and corrects bad sight at the same time.
As I said in another blog, it is then possible to fine tune the new lenses over a period of weeks until they are perfect, with the chance of better than 20/20 vision.
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There is also the fact that new spectacle lenses are so thin now that no-one needs to wear ‘milk bottle bottom’ goggles, like I had to wear when I was young….thank goodness contact lenses were available when I was about 16.
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Eventually everyone will have no need to wear specs, so people who still do will be kinky and eccentric….which can suit certain personalities.
It is definately true, in my opinion, that many people do find those who wear glasses to be more serious and intelligent, and also that a lot of men find them sexy too.
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Having said all that, those members of my family who have had their eyes done are totally thrilled with their new ‘specs-free’ life,
and wholeheartedly encouraged me do go for it asap.
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I find Remembrance Day to be somewhat emotional, as so many people give so much for their country.
I also get distressed that so little seems to be done for those who are left badly damaged and in need of help.
Governments seem happy to ask them for everything and then discard them.
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As for the book….certain laws are there for good reason!
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I do hope that you had a much better day today….and that your coming weekend is full of good things.
x.
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