Ordinary lenses slow down myopia in children

- What is so good about this study is that they have tested lenses that are easily available in all stores, says the optician Pelsin Demir who researches myopia in children at Linnaeus University.

Previous research has shown that special lenses (My Sight) can slow down myopia in primary school children by almost 60 percent. This study lasted for three years where almost 300 children between the ages of 8 and 11 were drawn to wear either standard contact lenses or multifocals of two different strengths. The researchers and the children did not know who got what to avoid wishful thinking, a so-called double-blind randomized study.

The result was that in the children with the strongest lenses (+2.5), myopia was slowed down by 43 percent compared to using only ordinary contact lenses. The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and will be followed up.

- The earlier you develop myopia, the greater the risk of major visual defects and eye complications later in life with potential blindness. This applies to cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment and changes in the macula, Pelsin Demir explains.

- Can you in any way slow down this development and make the child not reach these higher strengths of myopia, it would be wonderful, Pelsin Demir believes.

Myopia means that you see well at close range, but not at a distance because images at a distance are focused in front of the retina so they become blurred. The visual acuity is partly due to hereditary factors, but also environmental factors are important. The most common theory among researchers is that myopia is exacerbated by too much screen watching and too little time outdoors when looking further away and in sunlight so that the retina begins to secrete dopamine.

Visual impairment is increasing avalanche in the world, in parts of Asia it is now estimated that more than 80 percent of teenagers are myopic. A 20-year-old study showed that half of 12-13-year-olds in Gothenburg were nearsighted in at least one eye, but Pelsin Demir and colleagues are now conducting a study to see how the situation is today among Swedish children. Forecasts indicate that by 2050, more than half of the world's population will be myopic.