A new drug that could help more than 128 million Americans read without needing glasses has been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for approval.
The eye drops are a pilocarpine solution meant to treat the symptoms of presbyopia, an age-related condition that causes gradual loss of the eyes’ ability to focus on nearby objects, according to the Mayo Clinic.
It’s a natural but annoying part of aging, said Dr. Robert S. Bailey, chief of the Cataract and Primary Eye Care Service at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.
“It happens from (the age) of 10 and then you gradually lose that focusing ability to the age of 70 when you lose the ability totally,” he said. Most patients begin to notice it in their mid-40s.