Pill Study To Help In Fight Against Retinitis Pigmentosa

retinitis pigmentosa tunnel vision

Recent studies into the condition of retinitis pigmentosa has shown up an interesting link between the human contraceptive pill and the improvement of this condition in mice. Part of the drug, norgestrol, was given to mice with the disease, with improvements made to the animals vision, along with a significant slowing down of sight loss in this progressive disease.

Retinitis pigmentosa is an eye condition that leads to incurable blindness. As a progressive disease, the patients vision deteriorates over a long period of time, even decades, with initial symptoms being an inability to see in the dark over time, followed by the more commonly recognised issue of tunnel vision. Although the disease usually takes full effect by the time someone is in their 40's to 50's, in some cases it can occur in early childhood. Although not all lose their sight completely, those afflicted are normally registered as legally blind by middle age.

The more technical definition of this eye condition is as follows, "RP is a type of progressive retinal dystrophy, a group of inherited disorders in which abnormalities of the photoreceptors (rods and cones) or the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of the retina lead to progressive visual loss. Affected individuals first experience defective dark adaptation or nyctalopia (night blindness), followed by reduction of the peripheral visual field (known as tunnel vision) and, sometimes, loss of central vision late in the course of the disease."

It is important to note that the drug itself does not actually influence the improvements seen in these mice's eye condition. Instead, norgestrol stimulated the production of fibroblast growth factor in cells surrounding the diseased cell. In essence, the protein coats the surface in a protective layer that strengthens the cells and gives them a higher resistance to the damaged gene. Although this testing has not occurred in humans, it is hoped that this may provide an important stepping stone to finding a way to improving patients' vision in the future.

Light After The Tunnel by Elisa Xyz (Image)
Technical definition of retinitis pigmentosa courtesy of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinitis_pigmentosa