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Good news: a new drug treatment for cataracts has shown overwhelmingly positive results in lab tests. This is the first research of its kind in the world.
According to a study published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciencea new anti-cataract drug – tested on mice – would considerably improve the condition of the lens, which tends to become opacified with age.
Cataract: the treatment would reduce the opacity of the lens
Cataract is a natural opacification of the lens of the eye, mainly related to aging.
It occurs when the natural lens inside the eye – the lens – develops cloudy patches of protein, leading to vision loss and/or blindness. The only current treatment is surgery.
Nevertheless, a new treatment developed by a team of international scientists from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) could soon see the light of day. This drug composed of oxysterol VP1-001 would indeed have shown extremely positive results during optical tests.
Clearly, the coating reportedly showed improved refractive index profiles – an optical parameter needed to maintain high focusing ability – in 61% of the lenses.
A “remarkable” improvement in 46% of rodents
Rodents who received this drug “had a remarkable optical improvement”, since almost half (46%) saw their protein clouds decrease. This means that the protein organization of the lens has been restored, that the latter has been able to concentrate better.
“This study showed the positive effects of a compound that had been proposed as an anti-cataract drug but never tested before on lens optics. This is the first research of its kind in the world.”reveals Professor Pierscionek, also a member of the Medical Technology Research Center at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
Nevertheless “improvements have occurred in some types of cataracts, but not all, indicating that this may be a treatment for specific cataracts”.
Scientists will thus have to distinguish between the different types of cataract before eventually proposing suitable drugs.
Consult an ophthalmologist online
Typically, cataract symptoms develop slowly and over many years. The lens of the eye gradually becomes cloudy, which leads to a decrease in vision.
The symptoms to recognize are:
- Blurred, hazy or blurred vision;
- More rarely, small spots or dots in the field of vision;
- A decrease in visual acuity;
- Poor perception of contrasts;
- Difficulties in distinguishing the reliefs;
- Poor color vision (yellowing of colors or difficulty in differentiating certain colors such as black, navy blue or purple);
- Discomfort to read;
- Sensitivity to light and glare phenomena.
In rarer cases, the disease can cause a halo of light or double vision in one eye (diplopia).