Minus eye in children can be cured using this medicine?

Minus eye or in medical terms, myopia is commonly found in school-age children in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. High minus in children increases the risk of macular degeneration, glaucoma, and can even lead to blindness. To overcome this problem, researchers continue to develop eye minus drugs in children, one of which is atropine.

What is atropine and how does it work to treat eye minus in children? Check out more information below.

Recognizing atropine to treat eye minus in children

Usually, minus eyes in children are handled using glasses. Glasses help the child's distance vision to be more focused, not to be scattered anymore.

In a study by a team of experts presented at the 2015 meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the use of atropine eye drops was shown to prevent eye minus from getting worse with a success rate of up to 50 percent.

Previously, atropine was used to treat lazy eye (amblyopia). This drug works by stimulating dilation of the pupil of the eye. However, experts have found that atropine in very low doses also seems to be able to control eye minus in children.

Unfortunately, researchers still have to study atropine's effects on children's eyes even further. The problem is, it is not yet fully understood how these drops can help minus eye in children.

When was atropine used?

The use of atropine is given to children aged 6 to 12 years who have eyes minus 0.5 and over the past six months the minus has increased by 0.5. Atropine is not used to heal or restore a child's eyes to normal. More precisely, this drug is used to prevent minus increase.

Meanwhile, the minus eye of 0.5 found in children under 5 years old requires a more thorough evaluation to rule out other diseases such as congenital abnormalities in the formation of the front eye segment.

How many doses of atropine are given?

There are various atropine dosage options that can be used to treat eye minus in children. The dose given depends on the minus level and also the child's eye reaction to this medication.

The usual starting dose is 0.01% eye drop atropine. The medicine is given every night in both eyes for two years or until the child is 15 years old.

Children should go to the eye doctor every six months during the use of low doses of atropine. It is important to note the effect of the treatment and the minus gain (if any), as well as the progression of the disease and to make the necessary dosage adjustments.

Atropine side effects

According to research that has been done, the use of low doses of atropine eye drops is classified as safe or has few side effects for the eyes or the body as a whole.

• Dilation of the pupil by one millimeter
• Mild accommodation disorders (4 diopters)
• Near vision problems
• Allergic conjunctivitis
• Allergic dermatitis

In the results of the latest study in 2016 in Singapore, giving a low dose of 0.01% atropine can reduce the rate of eye minus in children with low side effects. Therefore, the use of this drug is good for long-term use as long as it is routine control by an ophthalmologist.

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