The Value of Vision

DOI 17 References
  • Nishida Teruo
    Professor Emeritus, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi Ohshima Hospital of Ophthalmology, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka

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  • 見えるということ

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Abstract

Japan now leads the world in terms of the longevity of its population. However, it is important to consider not only the quantity of life but also its quality. A key factor in human happiness is awareness of the ever-changing natural and social environment. To maintain homeostasis of mind and body, we need to recognize changes in the environment through our senses, with vision being the sense on which human beings are mostly dependent. Vision itself is dependent on the eye, whose important components include the cornea, iris, lens, vitreous body, and retina. External light passes through the transparent cornea and is focused onto the retina, where the light energy is converted into chemical and then electrical energy as the visual information is relayed to the brain via the optic nerve. Maintenance of the transparency and shape of the cornea is thus required for proper refraction of incoming light and good vision. Many diseases-some curable and others not currently amenable to treatment-can affect these properties of the cornea and thereby threaten vision. My colleagues and I have studied the regulatory mechanisms that underlie the repair of damage to the corneal epithelium, and we have been able to translate the findings of our scientific investigations into the development of novel eyedrops for the treatment of persistent epithelial defects of the cornea. In this review, I address the value of vision and describe the path that our translational research has taken.

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