Optic Nerve Atrophy (ONA) Treatment
Optic nerve disorders will impact your vision in some way and it can affect one or both the eyes. The optic nerve contains about a million of small nerve fibers which carries images of what the eye sees to the brain. As the nerve fibers become damaged the brain will stop receiving vision information in a proper way and the eye sight will become blurred. The optic nerve atrophy is also known as an optic atrophy and optic neuropathy.
There are small photo receptor cells of the retina that are responsible to sense light and transmit the impulses to the optic nerve. This nerve from each will carries the impulses to the brain where visual information is interpreted and that is how we are able to see. The loss of vision happens when there is any damage to an optic nerve or damage to its pathway to the brain. Damage to the eye or the visual pathway will cause different types of vision loss depending on the location of the damage.
Signs and Symptoms of Optic Nerve Atrophy
- A reduction in the sharpness of vision
- Difficulties with peripheral vision
- A sudden or abrupt loss of vision
- Abnormal colour vision
- Change in the optic disc
- Involuntary movement of the eyes
Causes for the Disorders of the Optic Nerve
- Acquired factors such as disease or trauma
- Developmental such as genetic or an abnormal development
Hereditary, Genetic or Developmental Anomalies of the Optic Nerve
- Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy has an unclear mode of inheritance but it is suspected of being X-linked. That is the reason it occurs rarely in women and occurs more commonly in 20-30 year old males
- Congenital optic atrophy is usually hereditary
- Optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) is an undeveloped optic nerve
Acquired Optic Atrophy
The acquired type of optic atrophy may be due to result of pressure against the optic nerve, reasons as vascular disturbance, trauma, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, glaucoma or toxicity i.e. tobacco, alcohol or other poisons.
Optic Neuritis (ON)
Optic Neuritis is known as retrobulbar neutritis and optic papillitis. It is an inflammation of the optic nerve and the most common cause is multiple sclerosis (MS).
Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (ION)
This can be severely blinding disease that result from the loss of arterial blood supply to the optic nerve and usually in one eye. Ion consists of two types- anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) and posterior ischemic optic neuropathy (PION).
Glaucoma
It is a complex eye disease and the second most common cause of blindness in the world which is caused by high eye pressure. Usually this is a slowly progressing eye disease that damaged the optic never fibers and causes a reduction in the visual field. Untreated glaucoma will eventually lead to the optic atrophy and blindness.
Alternative Approach
Vision loses due to the optic nerve atrophy are quite complex and multifaceted. The nerve atrophy or ischaemic condition restricting the blood flow will lead to vision impairment. Since eye is a complex organ with many receptor and neurons conducting signals to the brain for processing, a constant renewal of cells and neovascularize is a never ending process.
The stem cells present in the region of the eye can renew and repair but due to certain factors they don’t function or are less efficient in regeneration. The stem cells from various sources can overcome these problems. The umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells are such cells that can differentiate into the nerve cells, neovascularize and immunomodulate when injected into the affected areas. These stem cells will activate and differentiate the local stem cells as well as other biological pathways by chemokine activities to form new or repair the optic nerve cells through regeneration.
Procedure for Treating Optic Nerve Disorder using Stem cell therapy in India
The medical intervention includes the lumber puncture (LP), intravenous injection (IV) and retrobulbar (RB) injections. We provide the cost effective plans for the optic atrophy treatment or the progressive vision loss disorders. This is just a tentative intervention, the injection and the cell type may change depending upon the condition of the patient and it is also subjected to your doctor’s medical review.
Benefits of Stem Cell Therapy for Optic Nerve Disorder in India
The stem cell intervention will bring significant improvements in the vision quality, ease the pain and improve the vision acuity. The improvements may vary from patient to patient and this cannot be guaranteed.
Plan your stem cell therapy for optic nerve disorder in India with Tour2India4Health Consultants. All you need to do is send us your detailed medical history, relevant test reports and we will provide assistance to initiate the formal process of consultation with our doctors. They will ascertain your eligibility to undergo the stem cell therapy. Get in touch with us by filling up our free consultation form on our website.