reverse cataracts tagged posts

A newly identified compound is the first that is soluble enough to potentially form the basis of a practical eye-drop medication for cataracts. Credit: © BillionPhotos.com / Fotolia

Cataracts affect >20 million people worldwide. The affected proteins are crystallins, the major component of fiber cells, which form the eyes’ lenses, and they are susceptible to damage.”Shortly after you’re born, all the fiber cells in the eye lose the ability to make new proteins, or to discard old proteins,” said Gestwicki, who has continued his work on cataracts at UCSF, where he joined the faculty about two years ago. “So the crystallins you have in your eye as an adult are the same as those you’re born with.”

Thus your finite reservoir of crystallins must maintain both the transparency of fiber cells and...