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ODs must ‘find a fix’ for myopia
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It is late on a Saturday evening and I am waiting to board a “red eye” flight home. I have just spent the past few days at Academy 2014 and, as is often the case when attending this meeting, I am physically exhausted, but intellectually charged.
For those who have never been, the American Academy of Optometry’s annual meeting is nothing short of exhilarating. It is a great venue offering hundreds of hours of continuing education in various formats as well as the opportunity to interact with many engaged colleagues. There is a certain buzz about academy, a sort of caffeinated continuing education conference. Simply put, what is not to like about this conference?
In my nearly 3 decades of attending the academy meeting, what I enjoy most is the breadth and depth of optometric intellect. Experts share their knowledge on topics ranging from “isolating inflammatory biomarkers in ocular surface disease” to “assessing pupillary responses in photophobic traumatic brain injury patients.”
Yet in the midst of this veritable explosion in optometric research, somehow the academy remains true to our profession’s roots. It consistently provides the most up-to-date research on even the most time-honored topics. Topics such as myopia.
Michael D. DePaolis
Undoubtedly, even in 2014, myopia remains one of optometry’s biggest challenges. Affecting more than 40% of Americans – and as many as 80% in certain Asian nations – myopia is alive and well. While it is true that prescribing eyeglasses, contact lenses and laser vision correction can seem routine at times, fixing myopia is another story. We are all too aware of the increased risk of retinal detachment, myopic macular degeneration, early-onset cataract and glaucoma faced by our moderate and severely myopic patients. Add the world’s nearly 400 million myopic individuals without access to refractive care, and the stakes are pretty high.
So, what mechanisms drive myopia, and is it even remotely possible to control its prevalence and progression? While genetics undoubtedly play a role in myopia development and progression, in the short term, manipulating environmental factors might very well be the key to fixing myopia. Strategies such as limiting electronic device screen time while increasing exposure to outdoor light (and related activities) seem to hold promise. Additionally, low-dose atropine shows great potential as a patient-friendly treatment option, especially given its low propensity for near blur and photophobia. Undoubtedly, contact lenses – overnight corneal reshaping as well as annular design multifocal soft lenses – are yielding impressive results in the war against myopia progression.
The message is clear: we can do so much more than simply watch, and we should. It is our responsibility as visual scientists and care givers to find a fix for myopia. Granted, identifying the most effective treatment strategy is no easy task. While we do not have a definitive answer just yet, one thing is for sure – we will ultimately learn about it at academy.
This issue of Primary Care Optometry News contains extensive coverage from the American Academy of Optometry annual meeting, and the January 2015 issue will include a special report on myopia control.