The aging process is a significant factor in the formation of cataracts. Other causes include diabetes, trauma and congenital cataracts. The annual cost for treating cataracts in the United States is $3.5 billion. The standard treatment for cataracts is the surgical removal of the opaque lens that obscures vision and the implantation of an artificial lens. Today there is a new approach to treating cataracts using eye drops to dissolve the cataracts.
Definition
According to the National Eye Institute: "A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision." Symptoms of a cataract are blurred vision and extreme sensitivity to light. The cataract may be small and not interfere with vision and could be left alone, but as it grows and blocks vision, it is usually removed by surgery.
Traditonal Treatment
The traditional treatment is surgical removal of the clouding lens and replacement of the lens with an artificial lens called an Intra-Ocular Lens (IOL) that is put in place. An IOL works effectively and needs no care or maintenance.
Eye Drops to Cure Cataracts
According to SmartPublication.com: "Researchers at the Helmholtz Eye Institute in Moscow, Russia, have demonstrated that a new form of carnosine--n-acetylcarnosine, NAC--which is now available in the form of an eye drops, can slowly reverse existing cataracts and prevent new ones from forming.
Report Studies
SmartPublication.com states that a long-term study by Russian researchers found that over a 6- to 24-month period with 49 volunteers they observed changes in lens clarity. All the volunteers were over 65 years old with varying degrees of senile cataracts. The patients received 1 percent solution of NAC eye drops or a placebo of two drops twice daily in each eye, followed by an evaluation after two months and another after six months.
How it Works
Glycation is the cross linking of proteins and sugar (glucose) to form a non-functioning structure in the body. A cataract is formed by gylcation, which cloudies the lens and impairs vision. Studies have proved the effectiveness of carnosine to fight against these protein modification. When NAC eye drops are administered, it is believed that the carnosine can slowly prevent proteins cross-linking and becoming a cataract and can also break existing cross-links.
Study Update
According to SmartPublication.com, updates from the studies report state that 88.9 percent of patients who were treated with NAC had an improvement in glare sensitivity ranging in individuals from 27 percent improvement up to 100 percent improvement. While the patients in the placebo group showed little change in eye quality after six month and a gradual deterioration at the 12- to 24-month periods.
Tags: According SmartPublication, after months, artificial lens, clouding lens, Cure Cataracts
