These Eye Drops Help You See Closer

They're used once a day, last six hours, and help you focus on objects: Now there are eye drops to help you see closer

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people wear glasses. For some, they're an everyday necessity; others use them only for reading or driving. They can be very expensive, and breaking them can be a disaster for those who can't live without them. But a group of scientists may have - finally - found a viable alternative.

Eye Drops

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) has approved VUITY eye drops, which are able to treat presbyopia. As many will know, this is an aging-related condition that leads to increasing difficulty in focusing on nearby objects - and thus books, smartphones, and anything else that involves reading. If we had this animal's abilities, it wouldn't be a problem. But we don't, and so we have to rely on science.

Unfortunately, the FDA has approved these eye drops, which are now on sale in U.S. pharmacies.

How the eye drops work

The VUITY drops can be used once a day, and they allow for up to six hours of clear vision up close, without negatively impacting distance vision. Their use is immediate, because they "activate" as soon as 15 minutes after use.

They work thanks to the active ingredient pilocarpine, a drug that shrinks the pupil, improving focus.

The drops were approved after two randomized controlled trials with a placebo group of patients. Seven hundred and fifty presbyopic participants, ages 40 to 55, were involved. All were asked to use a VUITY drop or placebo once a day for one month. After the thirty days were up, patients who used VUITY reported improvements in near vision, and no worsening in distance vision.

Presbyopia starts to affect adults around age 40, and then it goes more and more degenerative, so much so that many need specific glasses for reading.

This is just one of the innovations that help people with some type of vision disorder: there is also a tablet for the visually impaired, which revolutionizes the ability to perceive space.