Submitted by administrator on
For a long while, researchers and vision scientists have thought that the lack of very long chain fatty acids found in photoreceptor cells were the cause of blindness in children diagnosed with Stargardt type 3 retinal degeneration.
Now, new research coming out of the University of Utah has indicated that the hunt for the cause will have to start over as it is not, in fact the lack of these acids that generate the vision loss.
The research was done with laboratory bred mice that lacked the long chain fatty acids (ELOVL4) in their photoreceptor cells by up to ninety per cent, where they discovered their vision was unaffected during daylight or after dark.
Startgardt disease will affect one in ten thousand children from tots to teens and while there is no viable treatment, the condition can be managed and there has been evidence that nutritional supplements might help to slow the vision degeneration.
As the researchers begin looking for a different cause of Stargardt type 3, families of children affected will have to continue to " manage" symptoms.