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Everyone develops presbyopia as they age—an issue in specializing in close to objects and textual content—and sometimes should resort to studying glasses. Nevertheless, the answer is likely to be so simple as utilizing particular eye drops two or 3 times a day.
A retrospective research of 766 sufferers offered on the forty third Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) has discovered that almost all might learn an additional two, three or extra strains on the attention chart used for testing close to visible acuity (the Jaeger chart) after utilizing specifically formulated eye drops. This enchancment was sustained for as much as two years.
Dr. Giovanna Benozzi, director of the Heart for Superior Analysis for Presbyopia, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, mentioned, “We performed this analysis because of the vital unmet medical want in presbyopia administration. Present options corresponding to studying glasses or surgical interventions have limitations, together with inconvenience, social discomfort, and potential dangers or issues.
“There is a group of presbyopia patients who have limited options besides spectacles, and who are not candidates for surgery; these are our primary focus of interest. We sought to provide robust clinical evidence supporting an innovative pharmacological solution to offer patients a non-invasive, convenient and effective alternative.”
The attention drops, developed by Dr. Benozzi’s father, the late Dr. Jorge Benozzi of the identical heart, include a mixture of two energetic brokers: pilocarpine, a drug that constricts the pupils and contracts the ciliary muscle, which is a muscle controlling the attention’s lodging for seeing objects at various distances, and diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that reduces irritation and the discomfort that pilocarpine typically causes.
Sufferers administered the attention drops twice a day, often on waking and once more roughly six hours later, with an non-obligatory third dose if signs recurred or extra visible consolation was wanted. The group of sufferers (373 ladies and 393 males, with a mean age of 55) have been divided into three teams to obtain one in every of three eye drop formulations. Every formulation had a hard and fast dose of diclofenac however concentrations of pilocarpine have been 1%, 2% and three%.
The researchers assessed the advance in how properly sufferers might learn the Jaeger chart with out studying glasses (uncorrected close to visible acuity) one hour after the primary administration of the drops, and so they adopted up the sufferers for 2 years.
Dr. Benozzi informed the Congress, “Our most vital outcome confirmed speedy and sustained enhancements in close to imaginative and prescient for all three concentrations. One hour after having the primary drops, sufferers had a mean enchancment of three.45 Jaeger strains. The remedy additionally improved focus in any respect distances.
“Impressively, 99% of 148 patients in the 1% pilocarpine group reached optimal near vision and were able to read two or more extra lines. Approximately 83% of all patients maintained good functional near vision at 12 months. Importantly, no significant adverse events like increased intraocular pressure or retinal detachment were observed.”
Within the 2% group, 69% of 248 sufferers have been in a position to learn three or extra additional strains on the Jaeger chart, and within the 3% group, 84% of 370 sufferers might learn three or extra additional strains.
The development within the sufferers’ imaginative and prescient was sustained for as much as two years, with a median period of 434 days. Hostile unwanted effects have been delicate, with the most typical being momentary dim imaginative and prescient, which occurred in 32% of circumstances, irritation when the drops have been instilled (3.7%) and headache (3.8%). No sufferers discontinued the remedy.
Frequent adversarial unwanted effects of pilocarpine can even embrace eye redness, watery eyes, blurred imaginative and prescient, dim or darkish imaginative and prescient, sensitivity to mild or issues altering focus between objects, seeing flashes of sunshine or “floaters” in imaginative and prescient, and in uncommon circumstances, indifferent retinas.
Dr. Benozzi continued, “Almost all sufferers skilled constructive enhancements in close to visible acuity, though the magnitude of the advance relied on the standing of their imaginative and prescient earlier than remedy at baseline. Our research revealed that optimum pilocarpine concentrations might be individualized relying on the baseline severity of presbyopia as assessed by the preliminary Jaeger scores.
“Patients with less severe presbyopia responded best to 1% concentrations, while those with more advanced presbyopia required higher 2% or 3% concentrations to achieve significant visual improvement.”
She concluded, “These outcomes recommend this mix remedy affords a protected, efficient, and well-tolerated different to conventional presbyopia administration. It considerably reduces dependence on studying glasses, offering a handy, non-invasive possibility for sufferers, though these eye drops might not remove the necessity for glasses in all people.
“Importantly, this treatment is not intended to replace surgical interventions, but rather to serve as a valuable solution for patients who need safe, effective, and personalized alternatives and seek freedom from the inconvenience of eyewear. Eye care professionals now have an evidence-based pharmacological option that expands the spectrum of presbyopia care beyond glasses and surgery.”
Apart from the group of sufferers on this research, Dr. Benozzi has different sufferers who’ve obtained the remedy for greater than ten years. Dr. Benozzi plans additional analysis to measure enhancements in sufferers’ high quality of life, and to discover the underlying physiological mechanisms of the attention drops.
Strengths of the research embrace the big variety of sufferers included and the lengthy follow-up time. It’s the first systematic analysis evaluating three completely different pilocarpine concentrations together with diclofenac. A limitation is that it’s a retrospective, single-center research, which might restrict the generalizability of the findings and introduce choice bias.
ESCRS President-Elect, Professor Burkhard Dick, chair of the ophthalmology division on the College Eye Hospital Bochum, Germany, was not concerned within the analysis. He commented, “Whereas surgical procedure for age-related close to imaginative and prescient loss has superior, some sufferers should not candidates. The only-center retrospective research by Dr. Benozzi means that eye drops containing pilocarpine and diclofenac might enhance close to imaginative and prescient for as much as two years, however the restricted design means the outcomes might not apply to everybody.
“Lengthy-term pilocarpine use can typically trigger unwanted effects corresponding to decreased evening imaginative and prescient, dimmer imaginative and prescient in low mild, eye pressure, irritation and, in uncommon circumstances, retinal detachment, whereas extended topical NSAID use might pose corneal dangers. Broader, long-term, multi-center research are wanted to verify security and effectiveness earlier than this remedy might be extensively really useful.
Extra data:
Dose-dependent efficacy and security of pilocarpine-diclofenac eye drops for presbyopia: a real-world single-center research (2025).
Supplied by
European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
Quotation:
Some sufferers might use particular eye drops as an alternative of studying glasses as they age, researcher says (2025, September 14)
retrieved 14 September 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-09-patients-special-eye-glasses-age.html
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