Optics News

Mandatory online schooling and confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated myopia in school-aged children in Puerto Rico, according to a review published in Optometry and Vision Science.

WASHINGTON — Optometrists must learn about myopia management and discuss it with parents, according to clinicians participating in a panel discussion at Optometry’s Meeting.

Speaking on behalf of the American Academy of Optometry at the first meeting of the Committee on Focus on Myopia, Fuensanta A. Vera-Diaz, OD, PhD, FAAO, emphasized the importance of research in the treatment and prevention of myopia.

We know patients’ medical histories affect their recovery from concussion in all sorts of ways. For example, people who have depression or migraine prior to a head injury are more likely to suffer from persistent post-concussion syndrome.

The nonprofit organization Optometry Giving Sight has launched its 2023 World Sight Day Challenge, with this year’s theme, “Giving Together, Seeing Forever,” celebrating the collective optometry community caring for those in need.

Multifocal contact lens wear may reduce accommodative response in children with myopia, but it does not affect accommodative lag, amplitude or facility after nearly 5 years, according to a study published in Optometry and Vision Science.

Since the launch of the World Council of Optometry Myopia Management Standard of Care Pledge challenge, 130 eye care organizations and 50,375 individuals have made the pledge, prompting the WCO to set a new goal of 100,000 pledges.

Binocular therapies that harness the plasticity of the adult visual system may improve vision in both children and adults with amblyopia, according to a review published in the European Journal of Ophthalmology.

Presbyopia is part of the body’s natural aging process, meaning that everybody who lives long enough will eventually become presbyopic.

Using 0.05% atropine eyedrops every night for 2 years reduced the incidence of myopia in young children, although researchers acknowledge further study is needed.