News Health & Medicine

Medicated eye drops may delay nearsightedness in children

The earlier myopia starts, the worse eye health can become later in life

A photo of a boy with an eye drop bottle being held above his eye by his mom in the background.

Medicated eye drops taken nightly for two years delays nearsightedness in children, a new study suggests.

PixelsEffect/iStock/Getty Images Plus

By McKenzie Prillaman

An eye drop a day could keep myopia at bay — at least temporarily.

Using nightly eye drops with 0.05 percent atropine, a medication that relaxes the eye muscle responsible for focusing vision, may delay myopia onset in children, researchers report February 14 in JAMA.

Myopia, also called nearsightedness, is an irreversible condition in which the eyeball grows too long front to back, causing blurred distant vision.