27 November 2017
Forget the phrase “40 is the new 30.” In today’s world, 50 or even 60 is the new 40.
The younger outlook on life continues and a modern lifestyle allows us to thrive well into and beyond 'middle age.' The small matter of an anatomically changing eye and the frustrating arrival of presbyopia should not be allowed to influence the lifestyle choices our patients make.
We know and understand that contact lenses provide a freedom of vision not always possible with spectacles. Also, multifocal contact lenses have historically been less than perfect leaving us as clinicians in a quandary about the best recommendations to make. Unsurprisingly, the number of presbyopic contact lens wearers in the UK remains low at 4% of all contact lens wearers.
However, the future is bright; technological advances and a deeper understanding of the challenges of a presbyopic eye have led to some exciting innovations in the contact lenses world.
Johnson & Johnson Vision has developed the EYE-INSPIRED™ 1-DAY ACUVUE® MOIST Brand MULTIFOCAL Contact Lenses, which deliver excellent results with practitioners managing to successfully fit 94% of patients with two pairs or less of trial lenses in a practice-based study.
183 designs
Whilst most multifocal lenses use two or three designs within the parameter range for different add values (eg LOW, MID and HIGH add), the 1-DAY ACUVUE® MOIST Brand MULTIFOCAL lens design has 183 different designs. The pupil changes size with age, decreasing in size with increasing years. The myopic pupil is also generally larger than that of a hyperopic patient. Johnson & Johnson Vision has developed a lens in which the design will vary, not only with the level of add, but also with the refraction. This allows each of the 183 designs to map the optic zone of the lens over this pupil size ensuring the maximum amount of light is utilised and maximum contrast can be achieved.
Amazing comfort
Having great vision results is only valuable if the lens is also comfortable. The MOIST platform is the world’s number 1 daily disposable lens material and has proven to be extremely comfortable and particularly suited to patients troubled by drying or sensitive eyes which is often the case with this age-group.
Getting the best of both worlds
Introducing contact lens wear in combination with spectacle wear can provide abundant opportunity for visual freedom and a return to the ‘natural vision’ presbyopes once experienced.
*Across the power range of +6.00D to -9.00D.
ACUVUE®, 1-DAY ACUVUE® MOIST and EYE-INSPIRED™ are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson Medical Ltd. ©Johnson & Johnson Medical Ltd. 13NOVUK2539.
References
- Scherbov, S. and Sanderson, W.C. (2016) New Approaches to the Conceptualization and Measurement of Age and Aging. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria, WP 16-005 Copyright© 2016 by the author(s). http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/13284/
- Association of Contact Lens Manufacturers, 2014.
- Optician article – Moody K et al. Innovating for multifocal fitting success. Optician (2015) 249; 6509: 12-17.
- Cakmak, HB, Caqi N, Simavi H et al, Refractive error may influence mesopic pupil size. Curr Eye Res 2010; 35:2 130- 136
- Euromonitor International Limited; based on research conducted in May 2017; ‘world’ and ‘globally’ represent markets accounting for 76.5% of total daily disposable contact lenses in 2016 (retail sales)
- Patel S, Boyd KE and Burns J. Age, stability of the precorneal tear film and the refractive index of tear. Cont Lens Anterior Eye, 2000;23:2 44-7.