Interesting that that's why you got into the field.
I was born with an underdeveloped optic nerve in one eye. Vision is blurred to the point that prescription lenses don't do much. While procedures were done when I was a kid (patch as well as a minor surgery) nothing really improved it significantly. The optic nerve is the worst thing to have something wrong with because it's naturally programmed to never regenerate or "reconnect" itself. That's where stem cell research and other current studies are coming into play. I'm not exactly holding out hope that they'll figure it out any time soon. But from what I've read they have recently made progress on animal subjects, which is at least somewhat promising. It's a matter of turning off a gene that tells the axons in the nerve not to regenerate if damaged, as well as encouraging growth in the nerve. Maybe in 10 years or so they'll start doing tests on humans. It's tough, but with anything you're born with you learn to live with it and at points you forget it's even a factor. I'm beginning work in a visually oriented field and besides eye strain from time to time it hasn't held me back. A lot of basic things have always been a bit more difficult for me than others, the trouble is that like you say it happens with a small percentage of people, and so most people don't understand it or what it's like. I think that's the hardest part, especially when you're a young person today.
Anyways, I'm just pissed that I have to pay the extra charge to see every damn 3D movie, cause I can't see the effects properly.
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