Myopia Control Program

"80% of learning is visual."

A Child's vision is essential because of many things. One reason is that a large portion of what we learn and experience while growing up is through our eyes. Ensuring the healthy development of our children's eye can assure us of bringing out their full potential.

Our Myopia Control Program seeks to track the progression of a child's nearsightedness and apply different approaches that may slow down its progression. 

What is the Myopia Control Program? 

Myopia Control Program is one of the many services of Soliman Paroli Eyecare, where we modified our way of examining a child’s vision and recording it to cater to the child's vision needs. 

Compared to an adult, there is a difference in consultation, and specialty lenses/contact Lenses are prescribed which are geared towards managing a child's Myopia.

The goal of the Myopia Control Program is to:

• Record the Progression

  • Annually get the recording of the child's Myopia by encouraging parents to have their child's vision examined once to thrice a year, depending on the progression.

• Track the progression

  • By diligently examining the vision of the child, we can track their Myopia and Axial Length better, and know if it's progressing too fast, or just enough.

• Control 

  • By prescribing specialty lenses and advising lifestyle modification, we may be able to slow down the child's Nearsightedness and Axial Length progression. 

What is Myopia or Nearsightedness?

Myopia, also called Nearsightedness or Shortsightedness, can be explained as the condition where a person has difficulty seeing at a distance. 

It can be classified as in terms of its degree:

Low Myopia, people with Myopia of less than -3.00D

Medium Myopia, people with Myopia of around -3.00D to -6.00D

High Myopia, people with Myopia more than -6.00D 

Nearsightedness in the Philippines

In Asia, one of the concerns regarding Myopia is how it starts with the younger population. Studies have suggested the presence of a rapid increase in the prevalence of childhood Myopia. 

In the Philippines, there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of Myopia, with nearly 40% of the overall population affected. These numbers are expected to increase to up to 50% until the year 2030 

Does having Nearsightedness or Myopia dangerous?

Children and Adults of having High Degree of Myopia, or with an eye power of -6.00 or higher are at high risk of developing diseases such as, but not limited to:

• Retinal Detachment

• Myopic Macular Degeneration

• Glaucoma

• Cataract

What can influence Myopia?

Although the science of Myopia is still very young, some risk factors have been identified.

According to the Genes in Myopia Study, it has concluded the following risk factors may play a role in the development of Myopia: 

• Genetics, where one or both parents having Myopia

• Environmental Factor, such as:

  • The amount of Near work

  • Lack of Outdoor Activities.

Inquire or set an appointment to speak to one of our licensed doctors to know more about our Myopia Control Program.

Reference:

https://www.aoa.org/Documents/optometrists/CPG-15.pdf

https://www.doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/news_clips/062619-0003.pdf

ZEISS Myopia Management Lens Solutions

Dirani, M., Chamberlain, M., Shekar, S.N., Islam, A.F., Garoufalis, P., Chen,

C.Y., Guymer, R.H., Baird, P.N. (2006). Heritability of Refractive Error and Ocular Biometrics: The Genes in Myopia (GEM) Twin Study. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.,

47(11), 4756 – 4761

7Marcus, M. W.; de Vries, M. M.; Montolio, F. G. J.; Jansonius, N. M. Myopia as a Risk Factor for Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Ophthalmology 2011, 118 (10), 1989–1994.e2. (3) Flitcroft, D. I. The Complex Interactions of Retinal, Optical and Environmental Factors in Myopia Aetiology.

Prog. Retin. Eye Res. 2012, 31 (6), 622–660.

Molly J Smith, Jeffrey J Walline, Controlling myopia progression in children and adolescents, The Ohio State University College of Optometry, Columbus, OH, USA, 2015