Judi Dench on 'Going Blind': 'It Was Blown Out of Proportion'
"James Bond" actress Judi Dench spoke to Anderson about making headlines for having an eye condition known as macular degeneration, and addressed the rumor about her going blind. "Millions of people have got it… it was blown up, out of all proportion."
Dench explained there are two different types of macular degeneration. "It's not so good if you've got wet macular degeneration, most people have dry. Wet -- you have a series of injections in your eye, and it cleared mine, and now I've got dry, and stem cell work is being done on that. Doesn't mean that I'm going blind."
When Anderson referred to the stories that claimed she was going blind, Judi replied, "It made me very cross, indeed."
Judi said she is "certain I'm not going blind. I'm still driving my car." She added, "I go and see someone all the time, and they test it."
Comments
I don't understand, Judy Dench cannot always identify the person she is talking to or read her scripts but she can drive a car?!
I loved when Dame Judith made the comment about "learning one new thing every day". I used to teach and I opened every class with the same comment, but I carried it a bit farther. "Try to learn one new thing every day. If you do, you'll find out that you learned many things, not just one." I've always been a fan, and she's a true lady if there ever was one.
Massachusetts based Biotech Company "Advanced cell technology" is currently conducting human clinical trials utilizing terminally differentiated, retinal pigmented epithelial cells, derived from human embryonic stem cells, that are then injected into the sub-retinal space. The cells are obtained using a patented technique of removing a single stem cell from an 8cell embryo called a "blastomere" WITHOUT DOING ANY HARM to said embryo. The procedure is similar to the pgd test done at fertility clinics to test for genetic abnormalities upon fertilization. Early clinical results show retinal attachment, and Visual Acuity Improvement in the first patients to undergo the procedure. More information may be obtained by going to either The Lancet website, or Advanced Cell Technology's corporate page.