Bright Promise for the Dark Disease of Glaucoma

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Beware the “silent thief of sight”. Glaucoma sneaks up on people causing irreparable vision loss before diagnosis. Over 3 million North Americans have glaucoma – about half don’t know it. For society, the economic and social consequences of stolen sight is large. For sufferers, when glaucoma progresses to blindness, it is life changing. But is a cure in sight? The field of stem cell research is moving at lighting speed. In the search for a cure to glaucoma, adult stem cells, as opposed to the more controversial embryonic stem cells, are the focus. There are two types of adult stems cells. One type comes from tissues such as the brain, skin, or bone marrow. This type only makes more of the same. A stem cell from the liver only makes more liver cells.