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Low-Dose Atropine Eye Drops Delay Myopia

A study found that using 0.05% atropine eye drops reduced the risk of developing myopia in children by over 10 times compared to using 0.01% atropine or placebo eye drops. The study involved 353 children in Hong Kong who used their assigned eye drops nightly for two years. Researchers concluded that low-dose atropine eye drops may delay the onset of myopia in children.

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John Ruiz Magdaet
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10K views1 page

Low-Dose Atropine Eye Drops Delay Myopia

A study found that using 0.05% atropine eye drops reduced the risk of developing myopia in children by over 10 times compared to using 0.01% atropine or placebo eye drops. The study involved 353 children in Hong Kong who used their assigned eye drops nightly for two years. Researchers concluded that low-dose atropine eye drops may delay the onset of myopia in children.

Uploaded by

John Ruiz Magdaet
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Write a science news article based on the information given.

Eye drops with 0.05 percent atropine - medication that relaxes the eye muscle responsible for
focusing vision
A 2020 study (Ophthalmologist Jason Yam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong)
- myopia risk is more than 10 times as high in children of two highly myopic parents as in
children of nonmyopic parents
A total of 353 children used their assigned eye drops for two years. Only about 25 percent of
children who took 0.05 percent atropine eye drops, roughly 30 kids, developed myopia in at
least one eye, compared with about 50 percent of those who used 0.01 percent atropine or
placebo eye drops, around 60 kids in each group.

Researchers in JAMA, February 14 - using this eye drops may delay myopia onset in children
The prevalence of myopia has risen rapidly over the last few decades.
Myopia/nearsightedness
 Elongated eyes increase the risk for ocular complications including cataracts, glaucoma
and macular degeneration.
 This an irreversible condition in which the eyeball grows too long front to back, causing
blurred distant vision.
 It typically begins in childhood, and the earlier it starts, the worse eye health can
become later in life.

About one-fourth of the global population currently has the condition.

Genetics plays a large role in the condition.


Low-dose atropine eye drops are already used to slow myopia progression in several countries
in Asia. Yam and colleagues wanted to see if the medication could also delay myopia onset.

Yam and other scientists speculate that environmental factors such as less time outdoors and
more intensive education are causing the recent boom (SN: 1/24/13).

Optometrist Kathryn Saunders of Ulster University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, who was not
involved in the new study “It’s happening too quickly to be a purely genetic or inherited issue,”

The team recruited nonmyopic children ages 4 through 9 who lived in Hong Kong. Each
participant received nightly eye drops but was randomly assigned to receive drops with 0.05
percent atropine, 0.01 percent atropine or a placebo

The percentages in each group were similar for eye elongation not severe enough to be
considered myopia.
Families and clinicians didn’t know which treatment group the children were in.
It is expected to affect half of people worldwide by 2050.

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