Degenerative Myopia

[Alex1122]

Hello Dr. Hagan.

I  am a 34 year old male and have a degenerative myopia -19 and it continues to get worse.  I read a lot of posts about pathological/degenerative myopia on this website. I would like to know.   Based on today's research is there anything that I can do to prevent my vision from getting worse, (I read that daily atropine is successful in children)

I also would like to know if there is anything I can do to prevent CNV? I have read that AREDS's vitamins can be helpful for some conditions, would you recommend it?

Thank so much,
Alex

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The short answer is no. There is a world wide epidemic of myopia, especially in Asians, in young people due to all the near work with iphones, ipads, computer games, computer use and reading. In another generation most people could be myopic.   Atropine works on children but not adults and so does outdoor acitivity/play.  Best you can do is live a healthy lifestyle and see an ophthalmologist yearly. AREDS has been shown to help age related macular degeneration but no studies on pathologic high myopes.

[Alex1122]

Thank you very much for your reply!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Best of luck Alex. Live healthy