EFFECT OF EXTRACT FROM CATARACTOUS HUMAN LENSES ON SENILE CATARACT

Abstract

The nonoperative treatment of cataract has long been attempted by various therapeutic means. Since the advent of the study of immunity numerous attempts have been made to immunize the eye against the formation of cataract and to clear up existing opacities of the lens by stimulating the formation of antibodies. The results have not been encouraging. The first attempt to produce immune bodies in the treatment of cataract was made by Römer¹in 1908. Davis²and a few others have reported as high as 85 per cent of incipient subcapsular senile cataracts and a slightly lower percentage of senile cortical cataracts improved, arrested or retarded following the production of an active immunity by subcutaneous injections of an extract of beef lenses. The development and progress of senile cataract are variable. In some cases the condition progresses to full maturity in several months while in others (the majority