Eye Drops May One Day Replace Reading Glasses, and Could Help Our Vision as we Age

As we get older, we will all have a decline in our vision and will probably need reading glasses. Instead of reaching these glasses, imagine taking 2 to 3 for the eyes per day to see something close.

New research that experts will present to the 43rd congress of the European Cataract Society and refractive surgeons (ESCR) explore presbyopia, the condition that makes it difficult to focus on close objects and text, and how the drops of the eyes could one day replace the glasses.

Alternative to glasses and eye surgery

For this study, the main researcher Giovanna Benozzi, who is also director of the Center for Advanced Research for Presbyopia in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her team followed a group of 766 presbyopian patients with an average age of 55 years. The team’s hope was to help find an alternative solution to glasses and eye surgery.

“We have carried out this research due to significant unsatisfied medical needs in the management of presbyopia. Current solutions, such as reading glasses or surgical interventions, have limits, including drawbacks, social discomfort and potential risks or complications,” said Benozzi in a press release.

“There is a group of presbyopian patients who have limited options in addition to glasses and who are not candidates for surgery; these are our main interest objective,” added Bennozi in the press release.

Learn more: Here is how to avoid these 3 types of vision loss linked to age

Eye drops for a clearer vision

Eye drops consist of two active ingredients: pilocarpine and diclofenac. Pilocarpine helps to restrict students while contracting the ciliary muscle – the muscle which controls the capacity of the eye to focus on objects at different distances. Diclofenac is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) which helps relieve inflammation that pilocarpine can cause.

For their research, the team has placed patients – 373 women and 393 men – in three distinct groups and administered the mixture of eye falls. The first group had falls with 1% pilocarpine. Group two had drops with 2% pilocarpine, and group three had drops with 3% pilocarpine.

An hour after the administration of the drops, the team recorded the way patients could read the Jaeger table – the basic eye test used for visual acuity – glasses without glasses.

“Our most significant result has shown rapid and sustained improvements in the vision close to the three concentrations. An hour after having the first drops, patients had an average improvement of 3.45 Jaeger lines. The treatment also improved focus at all distances,” Bennozi said in the press release. “Impressive, 99% of the 148 patients in the 1% pilocarpine group reached an optimal close vision and were able to read two or more additional lines. About 83 percent of all patients maintained good functional vision nearby at 12 months.

In the group at 2%, around 69% of patients were able to read three or more lines on the Jaeger graph, while in the group at 3%, 84% of patients could read three or more lines on the graph.

Presbyie treatment

During the study, the research team noted that there were some side effects, including a vision brought in about 32% of patients, aqueous eyes, redness and a sensitivity to light. However, the effects were rather light and no patient stopped treatment.

“Almost all patients have experienced positive improvements in near visual acuity, although the extent of improvement depended on the state of their vision before treatment at the start,” Bennozi said in the press release. “Our study revealed that optimal pilocarpine concentrations could be [individualized] Depending on the reference severity of presbyopia, as evaluated by the initial Jaeger scores. »»

The results show that this is a safe and effective way to help treat presbyopia, but the authors also note that this treatment is not a replacement for surgeries if necessary.

This article does not offer medical advice and should be used for information purposes only.

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