One of the less enjoyable aspects of growing older is the gradual loss of close-up vision.
You know: How once you were able to read a newspaper or thread a needle without glasses – but now you no longer can.
Kind of annoying, but slapping on the old reading glasses (if you could find them) used to be the only way to accomplish those things and many others.
But now there’s news from Waring Vision Institute in South Carolina that claims a few drops of a new eye treatment can restore your close-up vision for up to six hours at a time.
It’s called Vuity, and it was recently given the thumbs-up by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The drops take as little as 15 minutes to work and are the only FDA-approved prescription treatment of presbyopia, an age-related blurring of near vision in adults. Nearly half of the U.S. adult population – those 40 and older – currently lives with presbyopia, according to the Waring Institute.
The eyedrops contain a medication that works by temporarily decreasing the size of the pupil.
The effect is similar to that of a camera lens, in which changing the camera f-stop decreases the size of the opening, allowing less light to pass to the film.
VUITY creates a pinhole effect on the eyes by constricting the size of the pupils. The smaller pupil creates a reduction of the peripheral light allowed to pass through them, making objects appear sharper.
Vuity increases the ability to read close-up while still maintaining distance vision. However, since the smaller pupil allows less light in, the drops are not recommended for use while driving at night.
The clinical trials showed people’s near vision improved significantly. Compared to test subjects who received placebo eyedrops, 22.9% more of those treated with Vuity drops could read at least three more lines on an eye chart than they could before the treatment.
At this point, it’s not known what the long-term effects of the eyedrops might be. But a huge advantage of the drops over expensive, corrective (and sometimes risky) eye surgery is the treatment can be stopped at any time.
A bottle of the eyedrops costs $80 and lasts about a month. They're available only by prescription and are not currently covered by health insurance.
I think I may be a candidate for Vuity (why are these new medical product names always so stupid-sounding?).
For the last few decades, I’ve been losing my close-up vision and – being a book lover – I have resorted to reading glasses. And I think my vision is getting progressively worse, as I recently bought some glasses to see my TV more clearly.
Oh, I can see it pretty well – my 55-inch widescreen beauty – but there IS an extra crispness when I put on my glasses that wasn’t there before.
Yeah, I’ve been lucky so far. I never needed glasses growing up – unlike my dear wife – and really didn’t need any eye assistance until probably sometime in my 40s.
But I’ve crossed over into that “reading glasses world,” and I’m not thrilled about it.
So…an extra $20 per week out-of-pocket to avoid wearing them?
Guess I’m gonna have to think about that…
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