It has the ability to accumulate proteins in the lens of the eye that causes cataracts. An eye dropper was used to apply a natural molecule called lanosterol to the canines’ peepers.
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Cataracts could soon be cured with a few eye drops that do away with surgeries, according to a study on dogs. The steroid dissolved the mutant cataract cells on the lenses of the eyes of canines which in turn removed the abnormal cells making vision better and clearer.
The study was published earlier this week, on Wednesday (July 22, 2015), in the journal Nature. The result is clear proteins known as crystallin.
The research was initiated with a study on two children, patients of lead researcher Kang Zhang of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China.
A study of inherited cataracts in two families has brought medical scientists to what they hope is the brink of the first non-surgical treatment for cataracts: eye drops. Normal versions of the molecule help prevent the proteins from clumping together.
Could eye drops replace surgery needed to treat cataracts?
After these proved to be successful and confirmed Dr. Zhang’s hunch by keeping the proteins away from one another, the researchers took their work a step even further.
Six weeks later, the researchers ran tests.
The US National Eye Institute scientist goes on to say, “These are very preliminary findings”.
Now the only treatment available for the debilitating growths, which affect tens of millions of people worldwide, is going under the knife.
While surgery for cataracts are considered to be a routine procedure that has been proven safe, the demand for such an operation is expected to increase dramatically.
Cataracts are common disease of the eyes and usually older people are more likely to develop it. However, there are cases in which people are diagnosed with it after trauma or radiation incident. However, the number of patients is projected to double during the next few decades due to an aging population in developed countries, and it is unaffordable for many people.
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Dr. Kang Zhang, the lead author of the study and chief of ophthalmic genetics with the Shiley Eye Institute at the University of California, San Diego, said, “The results we have point to a new nonsurgical treatment of cataracts that can be used for people who might have moderate cataracts or do not have access to surgery”, according to Philly.
