These Eye Drops Could Potentially Replace Reading Glasses For Millions Of People

Published on December 19, 2021
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Countless Americans find themselves needing reading glasses, and it seems like things are accelerating thanks to smartphones. Now, millions could drop the glasses completely thanks to these eye drops that can provide up to 6 hours of clearer vision.

These Eye Drops Can Help Replace Reading Glasses

These Eye Drops Can Help Replace Reading Glasses

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved VUITY eye drops in October 2021. These drops treat presbyopia, which is an age-related condition that makes vision progressively blurrier when looking at near objects, according to AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical company.

The drops are no available through a prescription at pharmacies around the country, says that drug making company.

VUITY is a daily eye drop that’s the first of its kind. It claims to give users sharper close range vision within 15 minutes of using the drops and it meant to last for about 6 hours. This is not meant to impact distance vision at all. The drops contain pilocapine, the active ingredient that causes the pupil of the eye to shrink, helping with close vision.

Presbyopia happens as we age and as the lenses in the eyes become less fixable. This it what makes it harder to see things up close. This starts to happen to people in their mid-forties and mid-fifties, as close up visions starts to decline, and only continues to do so as time progresses.

VUITY Can Last For Up To 6 Hours

VUITY Can Last For Up To 6 Hours

This drug has finally received FDA approval and now AbbVie hopes that the 128 millions of Americans that rely on reading glasses and are affected by presbyopia could be helped with these drops.

In a statement, Dr. Selina McGee, optometrist and Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, shared: “Many Americans deal with presbyopia, which typically begins around age 40, by relying on reading glasses or resorting to work-arounds like zooming in on their digital devices to see up close.”

Dr. McGee continued: “With VUITY now available, it is a good time for those who experience age-related blurry near vision to visit their eye doctor for an exam and to discuss their options to manage this common condition.”

The Eye Drops Were Recently Approved By The FDA

The Eye Drops Were Recently Approved By The FDA

According to Toni Wright, a clinical trial participant: “As I’ve gotten older, my vision has changed, and it has become almost impossible to see clearly up close unless I wear my readers. Realizing that I needed to start using readers showed me how important it was to address this condition.”

Wright said: “It was great to have the opportunity to participate in the clinical study investigating a new potential treatment option. I’m so excited [that] the investigational treatment, which has been identified as VUITY, is now approved and available as a treatment to manage age-related blurry near vision.”