Over the last 30 years short-sightedness has increased significantly and is believed to affect 42% of the population. New results from the third year of a major study into ‘Myopia Control', continue to support that the progression of short-sightedness in children can be halted by wearing overnight contact lenses.
The SMART Study into ‘Myopia Control' involves 200 children who are being monitored over a five-year period. After three years, for the control group wearing soft contact lenses, their average prescription level had worsened further by a full dioptre equal to four lines on a sight test chart, whereas those wearing overnight orthokeratology corrective contact lenses experienced minimal change in myopia with an average prescription level of -0.17D.
Short-sightedness is typically diagnosed around the age of 10 and progresses on average around half a dioptre per year until it stabilises in the early 20s. It is predominantly hereditary however there has been a sudden increase of over 66% in the last 30 years2, attributed partly to modern living. One in five children aged five to 15 years and one in three children aged 16 - 19 years need vision correction, yet only one in 12 who could wear contact lenses do . Children now spend around 7 hours a day staring at computers and mobile phones, and less time in natural light , which is having a detrimental impact on their eyesight.
Overnight contact lenses are made using a unique computerised map of the eye surface and are specially designed to sleep in. They gently flatten the cornea altering the angle at which light enters the eye so it focuses correctly on the retina. By holding the eye in the correct shape as the eye develops the lens acts like a dental brace. When the lenses are removed in the morning, full vision correction is maintained for over 24 hours. The lenses can be worn at any age but for children the additional benefit of stabilising their prescription before it becomes too high is significant. In the long term those with high degrees of short-sightedness are more likely to develop retinal detachment, glaucoma and cataracts.
Jennifer Golden, CEO of i-GO Optical, says, "Whilst i-GO lenses are still relatively new here in the UK, there are now over 100,000 people wearing them worldwide. They have major benefits for children because of the added freedom and confidence it gives them at school and more importantly in their ability to potentially arrest further development of myopia."
Shelly Bansal, a specialist contact lens practitioner in Middlesex says, "Over the years there have been many products which have claimed to halt myopia progression in children, but this third successive year of positive trial results in the ‘Myopia Control' study suggests there is real evidence to support overnight vision correction as a treatment for short-sighted children".
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