(WASHINGTON POST)  Emily Mullin, November 16, 2015 — A new study suggests a drug used for lazy eye might help slow myopia in children — but there’s more work to do.

Lots of people seem to need glasses these days. That’s because nearsightedness, or myopia, is becoming increasingly prevalent around the world. More than 40 percent of Americans are nearsighted, up from just 25 percent in the 1970s. In developed Asian countries, that rate is even higher with nearly 90 percent of children developing myopia.

[More evidence that the key to allergy-free kids is giving them plenty of dirt — and cows]

Glasses and contacts offer a corrective solution, but don’t actually stop or slow vision’s decline. But medicated eye drops may do just that.

In a five-year clinical trial conducted in Singapore, drops of a drug called atropine seemed to slow the progression of nearsightedness in children. Intriguingly, researchers found that a lower dose of the drug was more effective than higher dosages, in addition to risking fewer side effects. The research was presented Nov. 16 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Las Vegas and will appear in the February 2016 edition of the journal Ophthalmology.

Source: Scientists hope to curb the nearsightedness epidemic with eye drops – The Washington Post