FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A new solution is available to improve presbyopia, which in simple terms is age-related blurry vision.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given approval to a product called Vuity, the first eye drop to treat this common and progressive eye condition.
“It’s a once-daily drop and what it does is it constricts your pupil and it tightens the muscles that allow us to see up close and it’s been proven, and it’s FDA approved now, to provide anywhere from 3 lines of acuity up close,” said Dr. John Bascome, an optometrist with Broward Eye Care.
Bascome said the drops could help many avoid the need to wear over-the-counter or prescription reading glasses or contacts.
The drops will not improve distance vision, which also diminishes with age, and are not covered by insurance.
Also on the topic of vision, scientists have discovered that gene therapy and the diabetes drug metformin may be potential treatments for late-onset retinal degeneration, a rare blinding disease
It shares similarities with other retinal degeneration like age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss.
Symptoms, including difficulty seeing in the dark and loss of central vision, usually appear around age 50 to 60.
The research was done by the National Eye Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.