loss of vision Archives - Amazing Health Advances https://amazinghealthadvances.net/tag/loss-of-vision/ Your hub for fresh-picked health and wellness info Mon, 14 Jul 2025 03:30:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://amazinghealthadvances.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/AHA_Gradient_Bowl-150x150.jpg loss of vision Archives - Amazing Health Advances https://amazinghealthadvances.net/tag/loss-of-vision/ 32 32 Eye Cells “Rewire” Themselves When Vision Begins to Fail https://amazinghealthadvances.net/eye-cells-rewire-themselves-when-vision-begins-to-fail-8629/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eye-cells-rewire-themselves-when-vision-begins-to-fail-8629 https://amazinghealthadvances.net/eye-cells-rewire-themselves-when-vision-begins-to-fail-8629/#respond Mon, 14 Jul 2025 05:19:44 +0000 https://amazinghealthadvances.net/?p=17923 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences via Newswise – Mouse study reveals how retinal neurons adapt by forming new connections during early stages of inherited blindness Retinal cells can rewire themselves Scientists at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have discovered that certain retinal cells can rewire themselves when vision begins to deteriorate in retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease that leads to progressive blindness. In a study using mouse models, researchers found that rod bipolar cells, neurons that normally receive signals from rods that provide night vision, can form new functional connections with cones that provide daytime vision when their usual partners stop working. The study appears in Current Biology. Why it matters Retinitis pigmentosa affects millions of people worldwide and is a leading cause of inherited blindness. While the disease often progresses slowly, with some patients maintaining a surprising amount of usable vision into middle age, little is known about how retinal circuits adapt to cell loss. Understanding these natural adaptation mechanisms could reveal new targets for treatments aimed at preserving vision. What the study did Researchers used rhodopsin knockout mice that model early retinitis pigmentosa, where rod cells cannot respond to light and degeneration proceeds slowly. They made electrical recordings from individual rod bipolar cells, neurons that normally connect to rods, to see how these cells behaved when their usual input was lost. The team also used additional mouse models lacking different components of rod signaling to determine what triggers the rewiring process. They supported their single-cell findings with whole-retina electrical measurements. What they found Rod bipolar cells in mice lacking functional rods showed large-amplitude responses driven by cone cells instead of their normal rod inputs. These rewired responses were strong and had the expected electrical characteristics of cone-driven signals. The rewiring occurred specifically in mice with rod degeneration, but not in other mouse models that lacked rod light responses without actual cell death. This suggests that the cellular rewiring is triggered by the degeneration process itself, rather than simply the absence of light responses or broken synapses. The findings complement the research team’s previous 2023 work showing that individual cone cells can remain functional even after severe structural changes in later disease stages. Together, these studies reveal that retinal circuits maintain function through different adaptation mechanisms at various stages of disease progression. The research shows that retinal adaptation occurs through different mechanisms at various disease stages, which could help scientists identify new targets for preserving vision in patients with inherited retinal diseases. From the experts “Our findings show that the retina adapts to the loss of rods in ways that attempt to preserve daytime light sensitivity in the retina,” said senior author A.P. Sampath, PhD of the UCLA Stein Eye Institute. “When the usual connections between rod bipolar cells and rods are lost, these cells can rewire themselves to receive signals from cones instead. The signal for this plasticity appears to be degeneration itself, perhaps through the role of glial support cells or factors released by dying cells.” What’s next One of the open questions is whether this rewiring represents a general mechanism used by the retina when rods die. The group is currently exploring this possibility with other mutant mice that carry mutations to rhodopsin and other rod proteins that are known to cause retinitis pigmentosa in humans. About the study Published in Current Biology (2025). “Photoreceptor degeneration induces homeostatic rewiring of rod bipolar cells.” DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.057 About the Research Team Paul J. Bonezzi, Rikard Frederiksen, Annabelle N. Tran, Kyle Kim, Gordon L. Fain, and Alapakkam P. Sampath from the Department of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Paul J. Bonezzi and Rikard Frederiksen contributed equally to this work. Funding and Disclosures This work was supported by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health USA (EY36811 and EY01844) and an unrestricted grant by Research to Prevent Blindness to the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology. The authors have no disclosures. To read the original article click here.

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]]> https://amazinghealthadvances.net/eye-cells-rewire-themselves-when-vision-begins-to-fail-8629/feed/ 0 Vision Impairment Is Associated With Mortality https://amazinghealthadvances.net/vision-impairment-is-associated-with-mortality-7193/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vision-impairment-is-associated-with-mortality-7193 https://amazinghealthadvances.net/vision-impairment-is-associated-with-mortality-7193/#respond Fri, 19 Mar 2021 07:00:08 +0000 http://amazinghealthadvances.net/?p=11102 Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan via EurekAlert – The global population is aging, and so are their eyes. In fact, the number of people with vision impairment and blindness is expected to more than double over the next 30 years. A meta-analysis in The Lancet Global Health, consisting of 48,000 people from 17 studies, found that those with more severe vision impairment had a higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to those that had normal vision or mild vision impairment. According to the data, the risk of mortality was 29% higher for participants with mild vision impairment, compared to normal vision. The risk increases to 89% among those with severe vision impairment. Importantly, four of five cases of vision impairment can be prevented or corrected. Globally, the leading causes of vision loss and blindness are both avoidable: cataract and the unmet need for glasses. The study’s lead author, Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., sought to better understand the association between visual disabilities and all-cause mortality. The work compliments some of Ehrlich’s recent research, also in The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health, that highlighted the impact of late-life vision impairment on health and well-being, including its influence on dementia, depression, and loss of independence. “It’s important these issues are addressed early on because losing your vision affects more than just how you see the world; it affects your experience of the world and your life,” says Ehrlich. “This analysis provides an important opportunity to promote not only health and wellbeing, but also longevity by correcting, rehabilitating, and preventing avoidable vision loss across the globe.” To read the original article click here.

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