Retinitis Pigmentosa – The Uncurable Deterioration of the Retina

 The ability to see with your eyes and have clear, or sufficient vision is something you may take for granted daily. Retinitis pigmentosa, RP, is a rare eye disease that causes the retina to deteriorate over a long period of time, slowly destroying your vision. This disease will not only ruin your vision, but it will also completely alter your entire life. Because there is no cure or preventative action, the only choice you would have is to learn how to accommodate and accept your new life.

This disease is a genetic condition that is passed down in families, with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. RP damages the photoreceptor cells in the retina, which are responsible for seeing color and adjusting to the light. Additionally, the symptoms of RP are difficult to distinguish as it overlaps with other degenerative eye diseases. The symptoms are not very noticeable when you are younger and can appear out of nowhere and progress very quickly as you get older. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease but having the genes: RPE65, RPGR, and USH2A, analyzed earlier on would be beneficial as you can take certain measures to prepare yourself for RP.

Retinitis pigmentosa is an eye disease that runs in my family. My father and two of my aunts currently live with RP. My father first experienced slight vision loss about 15 years ago when he was in his 30s. RP developed very quickly for my father and today he has lost most of his peripheral vision and most of his ability to see in low lights. My dad explains it as not being able to see from the side of his eyes or anything else that is far. He still has a sufficient vision where he can read and see things that are right in front of him. I am always worried about having this disease myself because I know that once I experience a slight difference in my vision, the disease may overtake my vision entirely. Your eyes are such an important part of your daily life and are something you think you can’t live without. Slowly losing your vision when your eyes have been perfectly normal your entire life defines retinitis pigmentosa. Research and clinical trials are continuing to be done for this disease and hopefully one day there will be a cure. 

Kelly Pham (3)

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 5, 2022 at 10:25 AM

    Hi Kelly! I don’t think I ever heard of retinitis pigmentosa before reading your post, and I thought it was really interesting. It’s sad to hear that people who have this disease aren’t able to catch it early since they don’t realize they have it until it already starts to develop. Hopefully in learning more about the cellular processes that result in this eye disease, we can design a possible treatment to slow or even prevent its effects before they get worse. Do you think in the future we may be able to develop a way to reverse the effects of RP, or do you think there’s a point where the effects can’t be undone if they’re too severe?
    - Sarah Belcher

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 7, 2022 at 2:28 PM

      Hi Sarah!
      I think it is possible in the future to find some way to try and reverse or even lessen the disease. It is just hard to distinguish the differences in the symptoms of RP in comparison to other eye diseases which might cause trouble in the future. I also think there would be a point in time where the effects are too severe and they wouldn’t be able to reverse it. Early measures must be taken.
      - Kelly

      Delete
  2. Owen BradleyOctober 5, 2022 at 6:52 PM

    Hi Kelly,
    Do you think CRISPR could be used to treat retinitis pigmentosa? Maybe it could treat people who have the genes but haven't started experiencing symptoms yet. Unfortunately it seems like existing damage will be very difficult to reverse. I wonder if stem cells could be used to help reconstruct deteriorated retinas. I can't imagine having to live with this disease, it sounds terrifying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 7, 2022 at 2:30 PM

      Hi Owen,
      CRISPR is such a new technology and I’m actually curious to see if any testing has been done with CRISPR and RP. I would hope to believe that somehow they can find a way to utilize CRISPR for this disease though.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousOctober 7, 2022 at 2:31 PM

      - Kelly

      Delete

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