Dear DOCs and Science Friends,

Smart lenses to halt short sight http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4437067.stm

Scientists have designed special contact lenses that could help make
short-sightedness a thing of the past.
The custom-made lenses are intended to correct problems with focusing which eye
experts blame for progressive short vision, or myopia. A team at Anglia
Polytechnic University will test whether the lenses can prevent people's myopia
getting worse. The ultimate aim is to give myopia-prone children the lenses to
wear from the age of five.

This should stop them encountering any short-sightedness later on and eye
diseases linked with myopia, such as cataracts and glaucoma. Short-sightedness
is caused by the inability of the muscles in the eye to flatten the lens enough
to focus light from distant objects directly on to the retina.

Instead, the point of focus is in front of the retina, leading to a blurred
image. Glasses correct the problem by moving the focal point back onto the
retina.

However, even when wearing glasses, short-sighted people cannot always focus
very accurately on things, particularly when they are close up, said lead
investigator and optometrist Professor Daniel O'Leary.

Correcting vision

Mr Nick Astbury, president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists
He explained: "It's because they have some small optical imperfections in
addition to being short-sighted and spectacles have the same power across the
whole of the lens.

"With time, the inaccurate focussing makes their condition worse so they become
more and more short-sighted. So what we have done is devise tailor-made lenses
to correct these problems." He said that experts know enough about myopia to
predict which children are likely to become short-sighted. For example, both
parents having myopia increases a child's risk six-fold, he said.

"We could do a little screening test when children are five or six years old,
identify the ones at risk and encourage them to wear lenses to stop them
developing myopia so they have perfect sight," said Professor O'Leary. His team
is currently recruiting 400 volunteers with myopia aged between 14 and 21 to
test the lenses. The researchers will follow their progress for two years to see
whether the lenses have prevented any further deterioration compared with no
intervention.

Colleagues in Australia are also testing how well young children can adapt to
wearing contact lenses. Around 12 million people in the UK, or a quarter of the
population in the UK, are short-sighted. Globally, the figure is close to one
billion.

Mr Nick Astbury, president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, said:
"Myopia is a big problem world wide. We welcome any research that might help in
this area. We look forward to seeing the results."

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