
Lens of human eye can be fully regenerated, at least in newborns - krzysiek
http://evidenceba.se/answers/16-yes-but-for-now-it-was-only-achieved-in-infants-answer-to-can-lens-of-human-eye-be-regenerated-after-cataract-surgery
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roberthahn
I had to have my lenses removed from both eyes when I was a child (in the
70s). The problem in my case was that they were dislocated.

Since the surgery, I wore very thick glasses to correct it. I switched to
contacts in the early 80s (contact lens tech was barely viable by then)
augmented with reading glasses.

Today I wear contacts to get to 20/20 or 20/30, and reading glasses for
computer work or reading. My correction is around +8.25 or so for each eye.

This is very exciting news and I hope kids don't have to go through the pain
of wearing super thick glasses growing up.

~~~
knodi123
They won't - high index materials have made coke bottle lenses a thing of the
past.

~~~
ScottBurson
At a price, though: high-index plastic has much higher dispersion than the
lower-index materials. This causes a greater "prism effect" near the edges of
the lens, which interacts very badly with the new RGB-backlight monitors [0].

[0] [http://scottlburson2.blogspot.com/2016/01/lcd-backlights-
and...](http://scottlburson2.blogspot.com/2016/01/lcd-backlights-and-eyeglass-
lenses.html)

~~~
roberthahn
Yeah, I have a pair of those for when I'm not wearing contacts and the
chromatic aberration drives me nuts.

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toomuchtodo
UCSD press release:
[http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/stem_cells_regenerate_...](http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/stem_cells_regenerate_human_lens_after_cataract_surgery_restoring_vision)

Nature abstract:
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v531/n7594/full/nature1...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v531/n7594/full/nature17181.html)

Obligatory Nature paper DOI ident for sci-hub lookup: doi:10.1038/nature17181

~~~
krzysiek
Exactly. Here are the most important points from the full Nature paper:
[http://evidenceba.se/sources/42-lens-regeneration-using-
endo...](http://evidenceba.se/sources/42-lens-regeneration-using-endogenous-
stem-cells-with-gain-of-visual-function)

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nfriedly
This is absolutely possible. I know a woman who's entire eye was removed when
she was a child, and it grew back completely about 30 years later. No one
quite understands why (or why it took 30 years), but the human body is full of
surprises.

~~~
damienkatz
You got to provide more info than that! Was it suddenly regrown? Or grew in
spurts? Slow and steady? At what point did they decide it was regrown? How
well does it work? Or is this like some joke I would tell my kids how my leg
was chopped off as a child but later grew back?

~~~
nfriedly
I should track her down again because its been a few years. But from what I
recall, it was slow and steady over maybe 6-8 months. When we met last, it
wasn't quite 100% done: the eye was mostly there but it looked cloudy and she
was keeping gause over it, so I don't think it "worked" all that well yet. But
it did move in sync with the other eye.

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sandworm101
As I understand the matter, these sorts of interventions have/should be done
as soon as possible after birth. The developing brain needs the visual
feedback to develop vision properly. So it is good news to see them focusing
on younger patients.

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arithma
My son did the older surgery when he was a newborn. I just wish we had to do
this surgery now instead (or if we can benefit in anyway from this new
technique.)

Note: did the surgery at "Associated Retinal Consultants." I can't read this
without getting too emotional, and am not sure if this is considered a totally
new thing or if we just missed out on this possibility then.

~~~
krzysiek
This study was published 2 months ago. I was doing the research because my mom
had a cataract surgery, and now she got diagnosed with posterior capsule
opacification. I haven't found anything else. It seems like that's a very new
thing.

~~~
ajosh
Having the rear capsule become cloudy is pretty normal following cataract
surgery. There is a YAG laser procedure called YAG capsulotomy where they put
a hole in the area that is clouded up. The prosthetic lense stays in place and
the cloudiness is gone. You can expect a floater that shifts around following
the surgery.

I got cataract surgery in one eye a few years ago. I am much younger than the
average patient. It's not as good as what you have naturally when you are
young but it sure beats what you have with a cataract. In my case, the floater
did become mostly unnoticeable within a year. It didn't really impede my daily
life before that.

~~~
krzysiek
Thanks for sharing your experience. I found the info about YAG laser, and also
that's the recommendation that my mom got, but it's great to read about an
optimistic outcome. It seems to me that for now YAG is the best option.

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hanniabu
So since eyes don't grow in size from birth, could everyone have their lens
removed early on to be saved as a potential replacement for later on in life?
Would there be any benefit to doing this since there's already operations such
as lasyk?

~~~
ars
> So since eyes don't grow in size from birth

That isn't true.

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ars
I feel bad for whichever newborn needed such surgery :(

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maxerickson
It's rare but not all that rare.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_cataract](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_cataract)

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Grishnakh
It'll be great if they can do this for older people eventually, so we don't
need to wear reading glasses.

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ck2
Maybe it is based on stem cell availability?

Younger you are, more you have?

Guess they would have figured that out though.

