Want To Get Rid Of Those Reading Glasses? Give This New Eye Drop A Try

Designed to improve age-related blurry near vision or presbyopia, the eye drop is now available in pharmacies across the US with a doctor's prescription.

People with glasses may look smart, but only they know how uncomfortable it is to wear them. Wearing contact lenses is even more troublesome. Contact lenses are expensive, require cleaning and maintenance, and need to be replaced often. Moreover, touching your eyes to wear them increases your risk for eye infections. When you think of getting rid of spectacles and contact lenses permanently, surgery may come to your mind. Good news for those who can't do without reading glasses? Researchers in the US have developed a new type of eye drop which could eliminate the need for spectacles and contact lenses.

Dubbed Vuity (pilocarpine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution), this eye drop is designed to improve age-related blurry near vision or presbyopia. It is provided as a 1.25% solution (12.5 mg/mL). The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has also approved the use of this eye drop in the country.

According to the maker, one drop is applied to each eye once daily and it starts working within 15 minutes of application. The drop lasts for up to six hours for near vision and 10 hours for intermediate vision (such as reading on a computer screen).

The FDA's approval is based on the findings from two phase 3 clinical trials of the product: GEMINI 1 and GEMINI 2.

Marketed by the pharmaceutical company Allergan, Vuity can now be availed from pharmacies across the US with a doctor's prescription.

Warnings from the maker

Vuit is not recommended in patients with known hypersensitivity to the active ingredient Pilocarpine or to any of the excipients.

If you have iritis or anterior uveitis (inflammation in the coloured ring around the eye's pupil or iris), you should avoid using this eye drop. The FDA cautions that when iritis is present, adhesions may form between the iris and the lens.

You can use Vuity with contact lenses, but the FDA advises to remove the lenses before putting the eye drops. 10 minutes after dosing, you are ready to reinsert the contact lenses, it said.

Can it cause side effects?

The safety and efficacy of Vuity was evaluated in 375 patients with presbyopia in two randomized clinical studies (GEMINI 1 and GEMINI 2) for 30 days. The most common adverse reactions were headache and conjunctival hyperemia, which were reported in less than 5 per cent of patients. Ocular adverse reactions included blurred vision, eye pain, visual impairment, eye irritation, and increased lacrimation, these were reported in 1-5 per cent of patients, the manufacturer stated.

What causes presbyopia?

Presbyopia is known to be caused mainly by stiffening of the eye's clear lens. Another possible factor could be weakening of the ciliary muscle, which enables the lens to change shape for focusing.

Previously available treatments for Presbyopia include spectacles, contact lenses, increased illumination, and surgery.