People get into their 40s and beyond with their vision getting worse. For many people, the only way to read text on a phone is to have a bigger or brighter screen.
More than a billion people worldwide are affected by this condition, known as presbyopia, and it affects 128 million people in the US.
The FDA approved a new eye drop to treat presbyopia. I was skeptical at first.
People would need glasses, contacts or eye surgery before the release of Vuity. I realized after learning how eye drops work that they could be used for many people.
The eyes are involved in focusing on objects.
The human eye has many parts that interact with light.
The clear outer layer of the eye bends the light. Light enters the eye through the iris and pupil, which can shrink or grow to allow more light into the eye. It travels through the lens and bends the light to focus it on the center of the retina. The light signal is sent to the back of the eye for the brain to interpret as an image.
To get a clear image, your eyes need to adjust to how far away the object is. Your eyes take three steps to focus on an object close to your face: your eyes point toward the object you want to look at, your eyes change shape and your pupils dilate.
When you point your gaze at something, a small muscle in the eye contracts, which makes the lens thicker. Light bends as it passes through a thicker lens. Your pupils block some of the incoming light from other objects.
The rays of light at the center are what give a clear image when light bounces off an object. Suppressing the light helps to improve the image of close objects.
You can use a camera on your cellphone. The camera should be pointed at something in the distance. Hold your thumb 6 inches away from the image. Your thumb will start off blurry, but as the camera changes shape, your thumb will come into focus.
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blurry images are caused by Presbyopia, the inability of the eyes to focus on close objects. It starts when people are in their 40s and continues until they are 60.
There is an ongoing debate over the mechanical causes of presbyopia, but researchers know that age is the main driver.
One theory says that as they age, they get heavier and can't change shape easily. The muscle that pulls on the lens becomes weaker with age, according to one theory. I think presbyopia is caused by a combination of both.
Regardless of the cause, the result is that when looking at close objects, people's eyes are no longer able to bend incoming light enough to direct it at the center of the retina. The light is focused at a place behind the eye.
There are two things that an eye does to focus on close objects: the lens changes shape and the pupil gets smaller. Since presbyopia limits the ability of the lens to change shape, these eye drops compensate.
The amount of light scatter is reduced if the pupil is restricted. This makes it possible for people to see both close and far objects, because the light entering the eye is more focused on the retina.
It takes 15 minutes for the active ingredient, pilocarpine, to start working after you put the drops in your eyes. Pilocarpine is a medication that was first discovered in the late 1800s and can treat conditions such as glaucoma and ocular hypertension. The effect lasts for six hours.
Light gets into the eye when the pupils are smaller. It can be difficult to see in low-light conditions when there is a lot of sun. The most common side effects of the drops are headaches and red eyes.
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Vuity is approved for once daily use in each eye. A bottle will cost around US$80 and will last for a month if used daily. It could be an alternative to glasses or surgery for some people.
Vuity may be the first FDA-approved eye drops to treat presbyopia, but researchers are studying a number of other approaches. The eye drops are similar to Vuity in that they include anti- inflammatory drugs.
Other teams are studying drops that reduce the weight of the lens to make it easier to focus. Some early research has shown that eye muscles can be strengthened and that people can bend their eyes.
The future of presbyopia treatment is exciting as researchers work on many potential ways to overcome this universal condition of old age. Vuity is an innovative option that may be worth asking your eye doctor about.
Robert Bittner is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
This article is free to use under a Creative Commons license. The original article is worth a read.
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