New eye drops could clear up cataracts

Cataracts, the leading cause of blindness, could be reversed and cleared up with the use of a new eye drop compound according to a team of research scientists from from UC San Francisco, the University of Michigan, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Cataracts, an age related disease, share “protein amyloid clumping” along with Alzheimers and other age related diseases.  The differences are in where the clumping forms and which proteins are involved.

At present, tests have been successful in mice that developed age related cataracts and human lens tissue samples removed during surgery.

“This is a game changer in the treatment of cataracts,” says Roy Quinlan, a molecular biologist at Durham University in the United Kingdom who was not part of the study. “It takes decades for the cataracts to get to that point, so if you can reverse that by a few drops in the eye over a couple of weeks, that’s amazing.”

The drops, know as Compound 29, has been licensed and is actively being developed for use in human clinical trials by ViewPoint Therapeutics in San Francisco, California.
Source: University of California San Francisco

Mayo Clinic:
Signs and symptoms of cataracts include:

• Clouded, blurred or dim vision
• Increasing difficulty with vision at night
• Sensitivity to light and glare
• Seeing “halos” around lights
• Frequent changes in eyeglass or contact lens prescription
• Fading or yellowing of colors
• Double vision in a single eye

At first, the cloudiness in your vision caused by a cataract may affect only a small part of the eye’s lens and you may be unaware of any vision loss. As the cataract grows larger, it clouds more of your lens and distorts the light passing through the lens. This may lead to signs and symptoms you’re more likely to notice.

What are cataracts:  John Hopkins Medicine

Cataract Surgery Costs: All About Vision . com