Stem cell therapy may offer new hope for some people who have been left with few options to recover their vision. This includes people with certain forms of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Stargardt disease. Stargardt disease is an eye disease that causes vision loss in children and young adults. It is an inherited disease passed on by parents to their children. It is also a form of macular degeneration, often called juvenile macular degeneration.

It is important to understand that there are no stem cell products currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of eye disease. The only exception is clinical trials. If you want stem cell therapy, look for a clinical trial and discuss your situation with your ophthalmologist. A new stem cell transplant just might help preserve or restore vision that’s been lost to the dry form of age-related macular degeneration, according to the latest pilot clinical trial. Be sure to ask Dr. Peddada about clinical trials for stem cell treatment.