Daily Mail,
Friday,
January 31, 2003
By Jenny Hope,
Medical Correspondent
Radio
wave cure does away with reading glasses
FOR
millions in their forties and older, when the newspaper begins to blur
there seems little option but to invest in their first pair of glasses.
Laser correction treatment which works well for shortsightedness
offers less help for the long sight often brought on by advancing middle
age.
Now, however, a technique newly available in
Britain
promises to make reading glasses unnecessary by using radio waves to
reshape the eye without surgery.
Costing up to £1,500, the procedure takes only five minutes and most
patients can drive and return to work the next day.
Tests in the U.S. found it significantly improved the sight of
nine out of ten patients, and half achieved 20/20 vision or perfect
eyesight.
The technology, called Conductive Keratoplasty, or CK, uses
tightly focused radio waves to heat points on the surface of the eye
around the cornea, the clear window at the front of the eye.
Anaesthetic drops are first used to numb the eye. Then a probe with a
tip thinner than a human hair applies energy from the radio waves in
eight to 32 spots, depending on the strength of the correction needed.
The heat shrinks the collagen in the eye and pulls it tighter like
a belt, increasing the curvature of the cornea and enabling the patient
to focus more clearly on nearby objects.
America
's
Food and Drug Administration approved CK last April for correcting mild
to moderate longsightedness. Since then, thousands
of 'baby boomer' Americans have tried it. By late middle age, at
least one in three people are long-sighted, meaning they can see objects
that are far away, but have difficulty focusing on objects that are
closer, such as text in newspapers or books.
CK promises to help those with classic long sight who need glasses for
distance as well as reading by making both eyes more shortsighted.
But it can also help those who have clear distance vision but require
reading glasses in later life.
If the correction is made in one eye only, the patient develops
'blended vision', using one eye to see in the distance and the other for
reading.
The technique is being offered in
Britain
for the first time today at Horizon Laser Eye Centres in
Manchester
and
Bolton
,
and next month in
London
's
Harley
Street
,
costing between £1,000 and £1,500.
'We finally have a procedure specifically for those millions of
longsighted people over 40,' said Dr David Allamby, medical director of
Horizon Eye Centres. It is primarily aimed at those aged 40 to 60,
but can also be used for those in their 70s and above.
Patients experience a feeling of grittiness for the first 24 hours, said
Dr Allamby.
'But you can usually see the difference straight away,' he added.
'The. vision settles down over the next week.' It is not yet known
whether the eye will hold its new shape indefinitely
'We need long term studies, but it is possible to treat more than
once' said Dr Allamby.
Rita Thomas, a 47-year-old GP practice nurse from
Manchester
,
will be the first Briton to have CK today.
She started wearing glasses in her 20s for driving, but lately
needs another pair for close work. She said: 'I get so fed up with
losing my glasses, it will be wonderful if 1 can throw them away.'
