Can Prozac Cure Lazy Eye?
According to new research prozac, the popular antidepressant, might also be effective in the treatment of “lazy eye”or amblyopia, especially in adults. Prozac can rejuvenate nerve cells linked to vision in the brains of adults.
Amblyopia or lazy eye is reduced vision in one eye as a result of sustained period of visual neglect in childhood. One eye appears to be weaker than other eye as it was not used enough in early childhood. New research has found that fluoxetene, the antidepressant marketed as prozac, has been found effective in correcting eyesight’s of rats whose vision was impaired in early development and it could well do the same for humans.
In early childhood, the neuronal connections are very plastic, but as the critical period closes this flexibility is greatly reduced. Prozac reopens the critical period of plasticity in the visual cortex, and lateral geniculate body parts of the brain. Prozac helps in returning neurons in the adult brain to a more “plastic” state normally seen in youth. This helps the visual perception system to develop its proper connections between the eye and the brain. This can promote improved visual functions in older individuals. The only concern that the researchers revealed are the side effects of long term use of prozac. Furthermore maximum vision improvement was achieved when vision therapy was also administered along with prozac. The side effects of prozac include severe anxiety, glaucoma and visual filed defects. Further long term research needs to be done to determine the risks/benefits of such a treatment.
Tags: Prozac
