Develop drugs to help dissolve cataract

US scientists are developing a drug that helps treat cataracts without surgery.

New method to help treat cataracts

US scientists have developed a new drug that can transfer directly into the eye through a small tube. This drug can dissolve cataracts, one of the leading causes of blindness in humans.

Currently, this new drug has not been tested in practice on humans. The team from the University of California, San Diego hopes that after successful clinical trials, the drug could replace the current treatment of cataract with expensive and painful surgery.

Cataract affects tens of millions of people around the world.

Cataract affects tens of millions of people around the world. They will cause the cloud to have cloudiness and if not treated properly and promptly, it can cause blindness. When cataracts occur, the glass protenins will be damaged and form a blue or brown milky layer. Cataracts cannot spread from one person to another but can occur simultaneously in both eyes of a person.

Most cases of cataracts are related to age . The US Central Eye Institute said that more than 50% of Americans aged 80 can have cataracts. Although the vitreous surgery is quite simple, not everyone has the conditions to proceed because it is quite expensive.

The Fred Hollows Foundation estimates that around 32.4 million people are blind today and 90 percent of them are in developing countries. More than half of them have had good changes when performing surgery.

New drugs are naturally derived and are called lanosterol . Scientists found that the drug has the ability to prevent lumpy proteins from blistering (one of the causes of cataracts). Initial testing on rabbits gave quite good results and almost no side effects.

The research results have just been published in the journal Nature. Scientists in the project said they are preparing the necessary steps to test new drugs on the human body in the hope of creating a new way to treat cataracts more effectively without surgery.