Tested on children, the glasses have slowed the development of the disorder by nearly 60% in two years.
- These lenses make it possible to slow down the development of myopia, but not to cure it.
- The diopter is the reference measurement to assess the level of myopia or hyperopia.
- Several companies market glasses that slow down myopia.
One in three adults is myopic today, in 2050, nearly half of the world’s population could be affected. If there are solutions to live with this vision disorder, such as glasses or contact lenses, scientists are working on methods to slow its progression. This is the case of a team, mobilized by the company CooperVision: for two years, it tested glasses capable of slowing down myopia on a group of children. Their conclusions are optimistic.
What is myopia ?
This sight disorder is an anomaly of the refraction of the eye: near vision is clear, but it is blurred in the distance. In the lightest forms, the view becomes blurred at several tens of meters, but it is blurred at a few tens of centimeters in the heaviest forms. In the first case, myopia usually results in headaches at the end of the day. Often children or adults try to compensate by moving closer to read or see. Glasses or contact lenses will stabilize this disorder, and only surgery can resolve it, although sometimes it is necessary to continue wearing a vision correction device.
Glasses well tolerated by children
For this research, 256 children were recruited from 14 clinical trial sites in Canada and the United States. They were between six and ten years old and their myopia ranged from -0.75D to -4.5D. For two years, part of them wore these glasses “special“. In them, myopia increased by less than 1D. Compared to the control group, the progression of their visual impairment was 59% less. On average, the children wore their glasses 12 hours a day for the 24 months of study, a sign, according to the authors of the research, that they tolerated this new device well.”Applying our Diffusion Optics Technology™ to eyeglass lenses makes myopia management simple to integrate into eye care practices and children’s daily lives“said Joe Rappon, Medical Director of SightGlass Vision.
The enthusiasm of specialists
Among ophthalmologists, the prospect of new lenses, capable of slowing myopia, is good news. Last March, Dr. Franck Earith, ophthalmic surgeon at Le Vésinet, mentioned this device in an interview with Ask the expertsthe issuance of Why Doctor. The specialist speaks of a “real revolution“.”We have a lens that not only corrects myopia, but that will slow down its development by 60%“, he notes. He suggests equipping myopic children with this type of glasses as soon as possible. “Myopia won’t go awayspecifies the ophthalmologist surgeon, but its development will be slowed down“According to him, the rest to be paid for this type of lens is between 50 and 80 euros for the models already available on the market. That of CooperVision is currently marketed only in the Netherlands.
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