ALL ABOUT MYOPIA

v  Myopia, also called nearsightedness or shortsightedness, is the eye condition where objects nearby or a short distance away are clear but objects that are far away are blurred. It is caused by the eye being slightly too long.

v  One can stop the eyes from becoming myopic or progression of myopia.

v  Myopia is getting worse around the world, even to the point of being called an epidemic by some. In some parts of Asia, 80% of the girls in high school are myopic. In the United States, myopia has increased 66% in thirty years so that now 42% of people aged 12-54 are myopic.

v  Myopic parents have more myopic children than non-myopic parents.

v  People in urban environments have more myopia than rural or primitive societies.

v  The amount of reading or near work a person does is not predictive of whether they will become myopic.

v  People who spend more time outdoors, even if they have myopic parents and even if they read a lot, are less likely to become myopic. We don't know why exactly - it may be the sun, it may be focusing on distant objects or some other factor.

v  Spending too much time on the tablets and mobile games can accelerate the progression

v  ­­­­Your child needs an eye exam every year starting at age five. (Check-ups before then.) The goal is to actively start treatment within a few months of myopia starting. In general, you can slow or stop it, you can't make it better. 

Treatment options……

v  Atropine: reviews - the ATOM study. - 77% myopic progression reduction

v  Pirenzepine: approximately 50% reduction; not available easily.

v  Bifocals: No slowing of myopia

v  Progressive Addition Lenses(COMET study): PALs are "not clinically meaningful"

v  Contact lenses (RGP): "not effective for myopia control"

v  Orthokeratology: "...no evidence for long-term efficacy of orthokeratology in reducing myopia progression...A gold standard randomized controlled trial is needed .."

v  Undercorrection: makes things worse. "This means that myopes may have an abnormal mechanism for detecting the direction of optical defocus of the retinal image."

v  Part time lens wear: No effect seen. Larger study called for.

v  NeuroVision: A commercial internet based system of training. Preliminary results compared to age matched normals of another study showed slowing of myopia.

v  EyeRelax: "a microscope-like device". No evidence it can retard myopia.

v  Pinhole Glasses: No evidence it can retard myopia.

v  Bates Method: "Bates' anecdotal reports of improved vision have not been evaluated in trials.