By Health and Science Africa
A new study has revealed that special eye drops used two to three times daily might one day replace reading glasses as a means of coping with age-related vision loss.
Researchers reported at a meeting of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS in Copenhagen) that most people using the drops could read an extra two, three or more lines on an eye chart.
The results also showed that their vision improvement lasted up to two years.
The lead researcher Dr. Giovanna Benozzi, director of the Center for Advanced Research in Presbyopia in Buenos Aires, said in a news release that nearly all patients experienced positive improvements in near visual acuity, although the magnitude of the improvement depended on the status of their vision before treatment.
The eye drops contain a combination of two active ingredients: pilocarpine, a drug that constricts the pupils and contracts the muscle responsible for controlling near-vision focus, and diclofenac, an NSAID that reduces inflammation and discomfort associated with pilocarpine.
HealthDay reported that researchers tested the drops on 766 patients divided into three groups, with each group receiving a different strength of eye drop – 1%, 2% or 3% concentrations of pilocarpine.
The team tested how well people could read an eye chart without reading glasses one hour after they first received the eyedrops, and then over two years of follow-up.
According to Benozzi one hour after having the first drops, patients had an average improvement of 3.45 Jaeger lines. The treatment also improved focus at all distances.
He said, “Our most significant result showed rapid and sustained improvements in near vision for all three concentrations. Impressively, 99% of 148 patients in the 1% pilocarpine group reached optimal near vision and were able to read two or more extra lines,” Benozzi added. “Approximately 83% of all patients maintained good functional near vision at 12 months.”
About 69% of people in the 2% group were able to read three or more extra lines on the Jaeger chart, and in the 3% group, 84% could read three or more extra lines, results showed.
Side effects were generally mild, researchers said. About 32% of patients experienced temporary dim vision, and just under 4% reported headache or eye irritation.
But none of the patients discontinued use of the eye drops, and no severe eye problems like increased intraocular pressure or retinal detachment were observed, Benozzi said.
The results suggest that different concentrations of eyedrops could be prescribed to people based on their level of presbyopia, she said.
Benozzi said,“Patients with less severe presbyopia responded best to 1% concentrations, while those with more advanced presbyopia required higher 2% or 3% concentrations to achieve significant visual improvement,”
Burkhard Dick, chair of ophthalmology at the University Eye Hospital Bochum in Germany, who reviewed the findings said these results could be particularly important for people who aren’t eligible for surgery for age-related nearsightedness.
Dick however said that long-term use of both pilocarpine and eyedropper NSAIDs might cause some unwanted side effects.
Dick, who is also president-elect of the ESCRS and was not involved in the study said, “Broader, long-term, multi-center studies are needed to confirm safety and effectiveness before this treatment can be widely recommended.”
