Ophthalmology / 22.05.2026

[caption id="attachment_73906" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Clinical Research Is Reshaping Myopia Photo by Sean Patrick[/caption] Modern optometry has fundamentally evolved. Once viewed simply as a refractive error requiring glasses, myopia is now understood to be a progressive condition with long-term implications for eye health. Recent advancements in clinical research have transformed how medical professionals approach paediatric vision care, shifting the focus from mere correction to active prevention and control. As noted in a fascinating interview exploring why so many people are near-sighted, environmental factors such as prolonged nearwork generate negative defocus on the retina, which plays a major role in driving this global trend alongside genetic predispositions. The modern lifestyle of increased indoor time and intensive educational demands has created a perfect environment for myopia development, making clinical interventions more critical than ever before.
Ophthalmology / 17.10.2024

[caption id="attachment_64057" align="aligncenter" width="800"]eyesurgery-noglasses-lasix Source[/caption] More than 150 million Americans wear corrective spectacles and lenses. This eyewear helps Americans compensate for refractive errors. The most common of them are nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. When do errors arise? They happen when an eye does not refract the light to concentrate on the retina. This occurs because of the cornea’s form. If you wear lenses or glasses, understanding LASIK vs SMILE surgery is for you. 

LASIK Eye Surgery

About

Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis is what stands behind LASIK. In the USA alone, this is the top sought-after surgical intervention. The procedure is 100% bladeless and involves a laser beam for cornea reshaping.    The procedure has been FDA-approved for 20 years. Since then, it has revolutionized the domain. There is more than one type of LASIK surgery.
Author Interviews, Ophthalmology, Technology / 01.04.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Scott D. Barnes, MD Chief Medical Officer STAAR Surgical https://staar.com/MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for the EVO procedure?  Would you briefly describe what is meant by myopia and how common it is? Response: EVO is a clinically-proven implantable lens that corrects common vision problems such as nearsightedness and nearsightedness with astigmatism. EVO can be the solution for people who want to get rid of their glasses or contact lenses. Myopia (or nearsightedness) is the most common ocular disorder worldwide and its incidence is increasing significantly. An estimated 30% of the world's population, or 2.6 billion people, have myopia and this number is projected to rise to 50% of the global population by the year 2050.
Author Interviews, Ophthalmology, PLoS / 20.01.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_58681" align="alignleft" width="263"]Jugnoo S Rahi  Professor of Ophthalmic Epidemiology and Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist NIHR Senior Investigator Prof. Rahi[/caption] Prof. Jugnoo S Rahi Professor of Ophthalmic Epidemiology and Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist NIHR Senior Investigator Head, Vision and Eyes Group UCL Head, Population Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department GOS ICH UCL Director, Ulverscroft Vision Research Group  GOS Institute of Child Health UCL / Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Institute of Ophthalmology UCL / NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre Chair, Academic Committee Chair, British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit Executive Committee Royal College of Ophthalmologists  MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?    Response: We hypothesised that if changing environmental factors, in particular educational experience, are accounting for increasing frequency of myopia in the UK, a cohort effect would be discernible in changing associations with myopia, with different profiles for childhood and adult-onset forms. We investigated this using the UK Biobank Study, a unique large contemporary adult population sample whose members, born over a period of more than three decades, have undergone a detailed ophthalmic examination. This affords the opportunity to analyse ‘historical’ cohorts covering a period of important socio-demographic, economic, and educational change in the UK from which current and emerging trends may be identified and examined. Drawing on our previous proof-of-concept study, we investigated whether there were differences between childhood-onset versus adult-onset myopia in temporal trends in both frequency and severity and in associations with key environmental factors.
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA, Ophthalmology / 02.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Jeremy A. Guggenheim School of Optometry & Vision Sciences Cardiff University, UKProfessor Jeremy A. Guggenheim School of Optometry & Vision Sciences Cardiff University, UK MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Near-sightedness (myopia) usually develops during childhood and necessitates the use of glasses or contact lenses to correct blurry distance vision. It is also a risk factor for sight-threatening disorders such as glaucoma, retinal detachment and macular degeneration. Promising treatments designed to slow the progression of myopia are becoming available. Building on previous research suggesting that some individuals are genetically predisposed to near-sightedness, we investigated whether a genetic test could identify children at risk of developing myopia. 
Author Interviews, Ophthalmology / 14.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51806" align="alignleft" width="130"]Sumayya Ahmad, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Dr. Ahmad[/caption] Sumayya Ahmad, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The cornea is usually curved like a basketball or a globe. Roughly all of the edges are about equal distant from the center. With this shape, light enters the eye normally and the image is not distorted.  However, not all eyes are shaped that way. About 30% of eyes have  astigmatism, in which the cornea is shaped like a football, or elongated in one axis. If the longest diameter is up and down, we call that with the rule astigmatism, and if it is to the side, we call that against-the rule astigmatism. A lot of studies have been devoted to astigmatism over the years, but nobody has looked at it from a population perspective in the United States and tried to figure out the relationships it may have. Most studies are from one center or other country's databases, but not ours. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, is a survey composed in the United States each year that looks at a representative sample of people from across the country. It's a great way to study the relationship between the environment and people. We tried to look at demographic factors (like age, gender, race) and ocular factors related to against and with the rule astigmatism.
Author Interviews, Columbia, Environmental Risks, Genetic Research, Ophthalmology, PLoS / 09.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrei V. Tkatchenko, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor Columbia University Medical Center Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute New York, NY 10032 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Clear distance vision is rapidly becoming a rare privilege around the world, especially in Asia, due to increasing prevalence of myopia. Although much effort has been directed towards elucidating the mechanisms underlying refractive eye development and myopia, treatment options for myopia are mostly limited to optical correction, which does not prevent progression of myopia or pathological blinding complications often associated with the disease. During early childhood development, the axial length of the eye normally grows to match its optical power in a process called emmetropization, producing focused images on the retina. However, very often environmental and genetic factors lead to a mismatch between the optical power of the eye and its axial length resulting in the development of myopia if eyes grow too long for their optical power. Experimental studies in many animal species suggest that emmetropization is regulated by optical defocus. The eye can compensate for imposed negative and positive optical defocus by increasing or decreasing its growth rate, respectively. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying emmetropization are poorly understood which prevents development of anti-myopia drugs.