New eye drops improve vision without glasses

Help is at hand for people whose vision is worsening. An American pharmaceutical company called Allergan has developed eye drops that can treat an eye condition called presbyopia. This is when people's close-up vision starts getting blurred. It usually starts when people get into their 40s. It affects over a billion people around the globe. About 16 per cent of these cannot afford eyeglasses or access to eye surgery. The new eye drops are called Vuity. Allergan called them "an innovative new prescription eye drop". It said Vuity is "the first and only FDA-approved eye drop to treat age-related Blurry Near Vision (presbyopia) in adults". It added they "may help patients with presbyopia see up close".

Presbyopia means it is difficult to see things clearly up close. Sufferers need glasses or have to make the text on phone and computer screens bigger. On its website, Allergan stated that its eye drops could help people see three lines on an eye chart that would normally be blurred. It wrote: "In clinical studies where patients received one drop of Vuity in each eye once daily, this was measured by the proportion of patients achieving a 3-line gain or more reading a near-vision eye chart." The drops work by reducing the eye's pupil size. This helps people to focus on text and objects that are near them. A user who tested the eye drops said they helped him see smaller letters in focus.