Most people could read extra lines on eye test charts after using the drops
Part of growing older is realising things that happened to ‘old’ people now are happening to you. For example, the classic middle-age (pre-reading glasses) technique of moving a mobile phone or book further away so that you can focus on it properly.
I’ve noticed my wife, who is the same age as me, doing this—and recently, I’ve notice it can take me a second to focus, too. Unlike her, I wear contact lenses, so requiring reading glasses will mean some kind of varifocal solution. While multifocal contact lenses exist, I can imagine this approach would be much better.
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have presbyopia, which is when the eyes find it difficult to focus on objects and text up close. Glasses or surgery can usually resolve the problem but many find wearing spectacles inconvenient and having an operation is not an option for everyone.
Now experts say the solution could be as simple as using eye drops twice a day.
A study presented on Sunday at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) in Copenhagen showed that most people could read extra lines on eye test charts after using the drops. The improvement was sustained for two years.
[…]
The drops contain pilocarpine, a drug that constricts the pupils and contracts the muscle that controls the shape of the eye’s lens to enable focus on objects at different distances, and diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that reduces inflammation.
“Impressively, 99% of 148 patients in the 1% pilocarpine group reached optimal near vision and were able to read two or more extra lines.”
Source: The Guardian
Image: Blaz Photo