USA: Scientists found that anti-alcohol drug helps treat blindness

Scientists from the University of California at Berkeley explained to EFE their latest finding, by which a drug used since the 1950s to control alcoholism can help treat cases of retinal degeneration that lead to blindness.

According to the most recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 36 million people worldwide are completely blind, while another 253 million have some type of visual impairment.

One of the processes that most commonly lead to retinal degeneration and, in the long run, blindness, occurs when the cells of the retina become hyperactive, which causes a kind of flash in the mind in the patient.

According to the researcher Michael Telias, who was postdoctoral in Berkeley and now he is a professor at the University of Rochester (New York), these flashes can be blocked by a drug used since the 50s of the last century to treat cases of alcoholism, the Disulfiram.

“The Disulfiram it blocks an enzyme that synthesizes retinoic acid, which is the culprit in this type of degenerative retinal disease “said the researcher, who worked on this project together with Professor Richard Kramer.

The researchers treated some mice with the drug and observed how they only lost vision in 15% to 30% of the cases, while those who had not received Disulfiram they developed varying degrees of blindness in 90% of the cases.