Pill reverses blindness in some people

摘要

A hereditary form of blindness has been delayed or reversed for the first time by a daily drug treatment. The drug is the first to benefit people with a disease of their mitochondria, the energy powerhouses of cells. There had been no way to halt the rapid onset of blindness in people with the most common mitochondrial disease, called Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. It strikes men in their twenties, leading to total blindness within three to six months of the first symptoms appearing.