A Novel Approach to Handling Blindness in High Myopic Glaucoma Patients : Part I

Somayeh Heidarzadeh, M.Optom

Senior Training Manager, Vision Science Academy

 

Vision Science Academy Exclusive

 

Introduction

Vision is as essential to a person as a soul to a body. Without vision, we cannot explore the beauty of nature and enjoy beautiful moments of life. The loss of vision at a younger age can take us into depression, loneliness, and sometimes anxiety. It can affect our mental health as well. To prevent such circumstances, scientists are trying to introduce something valuable to people suffering from various eye problems. They have introduced various equipment like ophthalmoscope, autorefractor, keratometer, Humphrey field analyser, etc., to make detecting disorders and treating eyes more accurate and reliable. In recent years, Scientists from the US and other countries introduced innovative contact lenses to tackle Myopia and Glaucoma eye defects.

This article will shed light on Myopia and Glaucoma, the role of contact lenses, and US/Worldwide statistics. Continue reading the article to grab interesting and exciting details about the topic!

What are Myopia and Glaucoma?

Myopia (also called near-sightedness) is an eye defect in which a person cannot see distant objects. It occurs due to incorrect bending (refraction) of light rays by eye shape. In this condition, images are focused in front of the retina rather than focusing on the retina.

Figure 1: Difference between Glaucoma eye and normal eye

Glaucoma is an eye condition in which the optic nerve connecting the eye to the brain is damaged. It is caused due to the increased pressure inside the eye.

Figure 2: Difference between Myopia eye and normal eye

Are myopia and glaucoma interlinked?

Myopia and glaucoma both go hand in hand. High myopia was reported as a risk factor in primary open-angle glaucoma. A study by Chen et al., confirmed that a person with high or moderate Myopia has three times the increased risk of developing glaucoma.⁽¹⁾ Another study by Mitchell et al., conducted on 3654 individuals of age 49-97, also reported that a person with high Myopia has more chance of suffering from Glaucoma. ⁽²⁾ The results obtained are summarised below.

Level of myopia	Low myopia	Moderate-high myopia	No myopia
Glaucoma% in people	4.2%	4.4%	1.5%

Table 1: Comparison of Myopia and Glaucoma levels in patients.

Statistical analysis of US and worldwide

A prevent Blindness American Survey (2002) ranked blindness as the third major fear of people after cancer and heart disease. ⁽³⁾ The statistical data obtained from various pieces of research and surveys are as under –

• In 2020, there were 80 million Glaucoma patients worldwide and 3 million Glaucoma patients (40 or older) in the USA (among which 7 million were aged 40 or older). ⁽³⁾
• It is estimated that the worldwide percentage of glaucoma will rise to 111 million in 2040. ⁽⁴⁾
• According to a survey, 30% of myopic patients are present worldwide. ⁽⁵⁾
• Thirty-four million Americans (aged 40 or above) of the total population are myopic.
• Researchers’ predictions show that worldwide myopic patients will increase by 50% (5 million) in 2050. ⁽⁶⁾
• Mostly females are the victim of Glaucoma and High Myopia compared to
• Glaucoma accounts for 9 to 12% of Blindness in Americans, and the World Health Organization (WHO) considers it the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. ⁽³⁾
• About 9 million people in the US (age greater/equal to 18) wear contact lenses ⁽²⁾
• According to research, 14 million people in the US are visually impaired. Among these, 11 million visual impairments can be corrected by using contact lenses. ⁽⁷⁾

The following graphs show the projection for Myopia and Glaucoma from 2010 to 2050.
The first graph shows that the highest projection of myopia is expected to be in 2050,

affecting around 42,000,000 people. Similarly, in the second graph, we note that more than 6 million people will likely be affected by glaucoma in 2050.

Figure 3: Projection for Myopia and Glaucoma (2010-2030-2050) ^(5,8)

How use of innovative contact lenses in synergy with drug delivery system could be an effective way to control the progression of this blinding eye disease is explained in the part II of this blog.

 

References

1. Chen, S.-J., Lu, P., Zhang, W.-F., & Lu, J.-H. (2012). High myopia as a risk factor in primary open angle Glacouma. International Journal of Ophthalmology, 5(6), 750.
2. Myopia—IMU computer group 6​Treat the disease not the symptom. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://humanbodyanddiseases.weebly.com/myopia.html
3. Glacouma: Facts & Figures | BrightFocus Foundation. (n.d.-a). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://www.brightfocus.org/Glacouma/article/Glacouma-facts-figures
4. Mitchell, P., & Hourihan, F. (1999). Sandbach J, Wang JJ. The Relationship between Glacouma and Myopia: The Blue Mountains Eye Study. Ophthalmology, 106, 2010–2015.
5. Myopia—Myopia Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://myopiainstitute.org/myopia/
6. New Contact Lenses Could Improve Glacouma Treatment. (n.d.-a). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=114712
7. Study Finds Most Americans Have Good Vision, But 14 Million Are Visually Impaired. (2015, September 30). National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/study-finds-most-americans-have-good-vision-14-million-are-visually-impaired
8. Ophthalmology Management—Glacouma’s growing prevalence in the US. (n.d.). Ophthalmology Management. Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://www.ophthalmologymanagement.com/issues/2016/april-2016/Glacouma-8217;s-growing-prevalence-in-the-us

 

Sources for more information

1. Cope, J. R., Collier, S. A., Rao, M. M., Chalmers, R., Mitchell, G. L., Richdale, K., Wagner, H., Kinoshita, B. T., Lam, D. Y., & Sorbara, L. (2015). Contact lens wearer demographics and risk behaviors for contact lens-related eye infections—United States, 2014. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 64(32), 865.
2. Glacouma: Facts & Figures | BrightFocus Foundation. (n.d.-a). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://www.brightfocus.org/Glacouma/article/Glacouma-facts-figures
3. Myopia Control With Multifocal Contact Lenses. Modern Optometry; Bryn Mawr Communications. Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://modernod.com/articles/2020-may-june/myopia-control-with-multifocal-contact-lenses
4. Smart contact lens could replace eye drops, prevent blindness for Glacouma patients—Study Finds. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://studyfinds.org/smart-contact-lens-Glacouma/
5. Tham, Y.-C., Li, X., Wong, T. Y., Quigley, H. A., Aung, T., & Cheng, C.-Y. (2014). Global prevalence of Glacouma and projections of Glacouma burden through 2040: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ophthalmology, 121(11), 2081–2090.