A recent report reveals that wearing contact lenses can help slow down myopia, and the effects can be long-lasting. This is encouraging news as projections indicate that by 2050, nearly half of the global population (approximately 5 billion people) may be nearsighted.
After ten years of efforts to combat rising nearsightedness, David Berntsen, a distinguished professor of optometry and head of Clinical Sciences at the University of Houston College of Optometry, has announced that his team’s approach to managing myopia is not only effective but effects can be enduring as well.
The initial Bifocal Lenses In Nearsighted Kids (BLINK) Study highlighted how high-add power multifocal contact lenses could slow the progression of myopia in children. Recent findings from the follow-up BLINK2 Study—continuing to track these children—indicate that the advantages persist even after ceasing lens use.
Berntsen stated in JAMA Ophthalmology, “We observed that a year after older teenagers stopped using high-add power soft multifocal contact lenses, the progression of myopia returned to normal without losing any treatment benefits.” This study received funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Eye Institute, with collaboration from the Ohio State University College of Optometry.
In focus: A major issue
Leading the effort at the University of Houston, Berntsen addresses a significant public health challenge. By 2050, it is anticipated that about 50% of the global population (5 billion individuals) will experience myopia. This suggests that if you are not wearing glasses, the person next to you might be nearsighted. Myopia increases the likelihood of serious eye health issues over time, potentially leading to blindness.
The initial findings indicated that high-add multifocal contact lenses effectively slowed the growth of the eyes, thus reducing the severity of myopia in children. Given that higher levels of myopia raise the risk of serious eye diseases, such as retinal detachment and glaucoma, managing its progression during childhood may offer future health benefits.
Berntsen adds, “Concerns previously existed that eye growth could exceed normal rates after discontinuing myopia control lenses. However, our findings reveal that once older teenagers stop wearing such lenses, their eyes grow at a rate expected for their age.”
BLINK2 study chair Jeffrey J. Walline, associate dean for research at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, remarked, “The follow-up results from the BLINK2 Study indicate that the benefits of myopia control contact lenses are sustainable even once the lenses are stopped during older ages.”
Eye science
Myopia happens when the eyes of children grow excessively long from front to back. As a result, images of distant objects focus in front of the retina, leading to clear near vision but blurred distance vision.
While single-vision glasses and contact lenses correct the blurred vision, they do not tackle the root problem of continued eye growth. In contrast, soft multifocal contact lenses help correct vision while actively slowing down the progression of myopia by reducing eye growth.
These multifocal contact lenses, designed similarly to a bullseye, focus light in two ways. The central section corrects nearsightedness for clear distance vision, directing light onto the retina, while the outer part enhances focus on peripheral light in front of the retina. Research on animals suggests that focusing light in front of the retina might slow eye growth; the stronger the reading power, the more peripheral light is focused in front of the retina.
BLINK once then twice
In the original BLINK study, 294 myopic children aged 7 to 11 were randomly assigned to use either single vision contact lenses or multifocal lenses with high-add power (+2.50 diopters) or medium-add power (+1.50 diopters). They wore their respective lenses daily for three years at clinics affiliated with the Ohio State University or the University of Houston.
At the end of the three years, children wearing high-add multifocal lenses displayed shorter eyes than those in the other groups and showed the slowest rates of myopia progression and eye growth.
Out of the original group, 248 continued into BLINK2, where all participants wore high-add lenses for two years, switching to single-vision lenses in the third year to assess whether benefits persisted after treatment cessation.
The BLINK2 results revealed that axial eye growth returned to expected rates with a minor increase of only 0.03 mm/year across all ages after discontinuing multifocal lenses. Importantly, the overall eye growth rate remained consistent with age-expected norms, indicating no evidence of accelerated growth.
Participants who had previously used the high-add multifocal lenses had maintained shorter eyes and lesser myopia at the conclusion of BLINK2. Conversely, children who began using high-add multifocal lenses during BLINK2 were unable to match the results of those who had worn such lenses since the start of the first BLINK Study.
In contrast, research on other myopia treatments, like atropine drops or orthokeratology lenses designed to reshape the outer layer of the cornea, has identified a rebound effect where eye growth surpasses expected rates after treatment stops.
Berntsen concluded, “Our findings support the idea of fitting children with multifocal contact lenses for myopia control at a younger age and continuing treatment into their late teenage years when myopia progression tends to slow down.”
For further information, check the NEI webpage dedicated to myopia.
The study received backing from NIH grants UG1 EY023204, EY023206, EY023208, EY023210, P30 EY007551, and UL1 TR002733.
