Near Blind Adults Benefit From Landmark Gene Therapy

admin — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:20:52 +0000

New gene therapy has shown benefits for three young adults with virtually no vision. The outcome shows that they can now read several lines from an eye chart and they can see better in low light settings. This innovative gene therapy is aiming to reverse blindness in a severe form of retinitis pigmentosa known as Leber congenital amaurosis or LCA. One participant was even able to better navigate an obstacle course several weeks after receiving the therapy.

Read the rest of this story here–

Welcome to Help the Blind!

admin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:50:40 +0000

I’ve been blessed with good vision, but the same can’t be said about the rest of my family. My family has seen generations of Retinitis Pigmentosa. My Grandfather, my Mother, and my younger Brother have RP. That’s why I created HelpTheBlind.com. I want to help people get a better understanding of retinal degenerative diseases so they can easily help the blind, just by being informed!

My Mom and my younger Brother have Retinitis Pigmentosa. They are both legally blind; near 100% blind for Mom, and 90% for my Brother. It kills me to see how their eyes have changed through the years. When my Grandfather died, he was also blind, by RP. He was a great man! I remember how I loved to listen to him talk when I was young, he told the coolest stories! As I watched him talk I could hardly believe he didn’t see me!
In memory of James and Irene Hickman!

Watching as my relatives struggle through life with RP is disturbing sometimes, but like most blind people, they would never just come out and say they were blind, and sometimes it was very difficult to tell they had problems with their eyes!

My Brother in paticular, is proud to the point of being stubborn. He’d rather run into a pole than admit he’s blind! Especially when he was young. As a kid, nobody was allowed to say anything bad about his eyes, or else! He’s a great person; married, children, and a happy life. Just don’t try to help him across the street!

My Mom will not use the cane unless we go to the grocery store, where she say’s “bring it on bitches!” The crowds in Jewel seem to intimidate her. We go every Sunday, and believe me, it can get very interesting! I love my Mummy! She has a great sense of humor about it too, like when I tell her there’s a curb coming as we walk down the street, and there’s not. Then I call her a pony as she raises her leg for the missing curb. I can only get away with that if she’s in a good mood, and believe me, I learned that the hard way!

My Gramps didn’t seem to be blind either, you just had to ask him. If it wasn’t for the red and white cane you wouldn’t have known. He was great at counting steps to places like the Corner Store, the Barber Shop or the Pharmacy. He loved to swig the cane, and he glided down the streets of Chicago like his eyes were perfectly healthy. Well then again, you could tell he was blind when he had one too many beers and little Grandma had to help him to the car to get him home safe! Bless her heart!