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Can drugs and devices be "taken off the glass"? Can surgery cure myopia? Official answer

The National Health Commission invited experts to respond to the hot issues of myopia prevention and control

It is a misconception that surgery can cure myopia

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Summer vacation is an important period for the prevention and control of myopia in adolescents. The National Health Commission invited experts to respond to hot issues in myopia prevention and control. There is no cure for myopia, and drugs and instruments can only prevent the further progression of myopia. Surgery also does not address the structural changes in the eye caused by myopia itself. After the occurrence of pseudomyopia, it is necessary to adjust the child's living habits in time and reduce the use of electronic products; Protecting your child's hyperopia reserve is the key to preventing myopia, and it is necessary to increase outdoor activities and reduce near eye use.

Recently, the National Health Commission held a press conference, inviting relevant experts to introduce how children use their eyes scientifically during the summer vacation and respond to hot issues in myopia prevention and control. Wei Wenbin, chief physician of Beijing Tongren Hospital, said that myopia is impossible to cure. The most important thing for myopia prevention and control is to change lifestyle habits, increase outdoor activities, and reduce near eye use.

Can drug devices be "taken off the lens"?

Recently, some optometry centers have claimed that "removing glasses", "vision healing", "myopia buster", etc., how to correctly view the prevention and treatment effect of some drugs and instruments on children's myopia?

Wei Wenbin said that studies have shown that myopia is impossible to cure, and the development of myopia is irreversible. However, myopia in children requires dilated refraction, that is, the diagnosis can only be confirmed after the cycloplegia is removed. This means that dilated refraction is followed to rule out pseudomyopia. Myopia in children is generally caused by the overgrowth of the eyeball during growth and development, which causes it to mismatch the refractive system, and the changes in the anatomy of the eye caused by myopia are irreversible, so there is no way to cure and reverse myopia itself.

At present, the so-called "lens removal" is to change the refractive ability of the eyeball through surgery and other means, but it cannot change the changes in the structure of the eye caused by myopia itself, nor will it reduce the occurrence of myopia-related complications such as peripheral retinal degeneration and myopic macular degeneration.

For adolescents and children diagnosed with myopia, glasses should be worn in time, so that the eyes and visual center can be clearly stimulated and the normal development of the eyes can be maintained. The most important thing for children with myopia is to prevent the progression of myopia, and the only drugs that have been proven to be effective in clinical trials on the market are low-concentration atropine, and other appliances including orthokeratology lenses, namely OK lenses, peripheral defocus glasses, etc., also have certain therapeutic effects. However, these measures can only prevent the further progression of myopia, and cannot cure or reverse it. The above devices and drugs mainly play an auxiliary role in the prevention and control of myopia, and their long-term effectiveness and safety are still in the process of large-scale clinical verification.

Can surgery cure myopia

As soon as the summer vacation arrives, the number of children who consult and make appointments for myopia correction in eye hospitals around the country has increased significantly, and some children go to the hospital for myopia surgery, how do you view this phenomenon?

Wei Wenbin said that common myopia correction methods include wearing glasses and undergoing myopia surgery. Depending on whether the glasses are in contact with the cornea, they can be divided into eyeglasses and contact lenses (contact lenses). According to their material and function, contact lenses can be divided into soft contact lenses and rigid contact lenses. Soft contact lenses are one of the most commonly used contact lenses in everyday life. Rigid contact lenses are made of new rigid materials, and OK lenses are a type of rigid contact lenses. After wearing OK lenses, the cornea is shaped by pressure to reduce the refraction of the cornea, so you can wear glasses at night and do not need to wear glasses during the day.

Studies have shown that OK lenses have the effect of preventing the progression of myopia, but because it touches the cornea, the long-term effectiveness and safety of myopia prevention and control still need to be further verified. Before using the OK glass, children must undergo a scientific and formal evaluation and strictly follow the doctor's advice. Once all myopia patients are diagnosed, they should be corrected with glasses and have regular refraction examinations, otherwise a long time will not only accelerate the development of myopia, but also affect normal visual development.

Surgical treatment of myopia mainly includes refractive surgery of the cornea and refractive surgery in the eye. First of all, it should be noted that surgical correction must be performed after the age of 18 and after the degree of myopia has stabilized, and a strict preoperative evaluation is required. Adolescent eye development is not over and surgery is not appropriate.

The most common misconception is that many people believe that surgery can cure myopia. In fact, surgery is simply "lens removal", that is, the diopter of the glasses is applied to the eyeball by means of surgery, so that the eyeball can match the degree of overgrowth. Therefore, surgery does not solve the structural changes of the eye caused by myopia itself, and myopia surgery still requires annual dilated fundus examination to prevent myopia-related fundus complications.

Can pseudomyopia be restored

During the summer holidays, children have more free time, but this can also be a breeding ground for myopia progression. If pseudomyopia occurs, can vision be restored?

Wei Wenbin said that the holiday is an important period for the prevention and control of myopia in children, because the holiday can easily lead to the development of myopia. During the summer vacation, parents should guide their children to develop good living habits and scientific eye methods, which are the most important means to prevent myopia.

To increase outdoor activities. Teens should be outdoors for at least 3 hours a day on average. During outdoor activities, children are able to receive enough stimulation of natural light, and at the same time, they can also let their eyes constantly look far and near, so as to exercise their adjustment ability. These are all effective means to prevent the progression of myopia.

It is necessary to reduce the use of close eyes for long periods of time. Children have homework to complete during the summer vacation, and in order to prevent myopia, they should follow the "20-20-20" mantra for close eye use. That is to say, if you use your eyes at close range for 20 minutes, you should fix your eyes to 20 feet, that is, 6 meters away, and look at them for at least 20 seconds to reduce long-term close eye use, which is the key to preventing myopia.

It is necessary to maintain good lighting and lighting. Do not read in too strong or too weak light, and the indoor lighting 40 watt fluorescent lamp should be 1.4 meters away from the desktop. If you are using a mobile phone or tablet, you should reduce the brightness of the screen appropriately.

Get enough sleep and eat a balanced diet. Adequate sleep is the best way to relieve visual fatigue, and the diet should pay attention to nutritional balance and avoid high-sugar diets. Excessively high blood sugar can affect the toughness of the eyeball.

Pseudomyopia is caused by a spasm of the ciliary muscles caused by a child's prolonged close use of the eye. Pupil dilation is routinely performed before refraction examinations in children and adolescents, and after pupil dilation, ciliary muscle spasm can be relieved, and pseudomyopia will disappear naturally. After the appearance of pseudomyopia, it is necessary to adjust the living habits in time and reduce the use of electronic products, otherwise in the long run, pseudomyopia will also turn into true myopia.

How should the farsightedness reserve be protected

Hyperopia reserve is a physiological form of hyperopia in which a child grows up. Paying attention to the protection of hyperopia reserve is very important for the prevention and control of myopia in adolescents. How should the farsightedness reserve be protected?

Wei Wenbin said that the hyperopia reserve is an important indicator for monitoring the development of refraction, and the hyperopia reserve corresponding to age is the best indicator for predicting the occurrence of myopia. If a child's farsightedness reserve is depleted by the time they reach the first grade of primary school, they are more likely to develop myopia in primary school. Due to children and adolescents using their eyes too early and too much, the hyperopia reserve is lower than the standard range corresponding to their age, which is called insufficient hyperopia reserve. Therefore, protecting the reserve of hyperopia is the key to preventing myopia.

In order to effectively prevent and control myopia, prevention and control measures should be moved forward to preschool children. This includes regular screening of children's eye care and refraction to check if the child's farsightedness reserve is within the normal range. If the reserve of hyperopia is too low, then it is necessary to change the lifestyle habits in time, including increasing outdoor activities and reducing near eye use, so as to prevent the occurrence of myopia. At the same time, if the farsightedness reserve exceeds the upper limit of the corresponding age, attention should also be paid to whether the child has farsightedness. In the process of eye development, the development of visual acuity and refraction are matched to each other, so if the farsightedness reserve is within the normal range, the child's vision should also be concerned. If visual acuity is below age-appropriate uncorrected visual acuity, then the ophthalmologic examination should also be further refined to rule out other possible eye conditions.

Source: People's Daily