The Myopia Exchange

Professor Karla Zadnik, Dean of the Ohio State University College of Optometry in the USA, guides us through a variety of fascinating topics. In her capacity as Principal Investigator of the Childhood Atropine for Myopia Progression (CHAMP) study, Karla explains this multi-site, four year clinical trial which is investigating two proprietary formulations manufactured by US-based specialty pharmaceutical company Nevakar. I learnt that Nevakar is derived from Sanskrit, meaning ‘new form’,...

Dr Monica Jong, Executive Director of the International Myopia Institute, founded by the Brien Holden Vision Institute, tells us all about the IMI’s big plans for 2020. With the landmark publication of the seven IMI White Paper reports almost a year ago now, we discuss the impact of these reports so far and all of the resources available on the IMI website www.myopiainstitute.org including summaries and translations to multiple languages. The biggest news, though, is the seven new taskforce...

Philip Cheng, well-known clinical optometrist from Melbourne, Australia and prolific contributor to the Myopia Profile Facebook group, takes us through the twists and turns of myopia management in practice. Philip founded his greenfield independent practice over three years ago with a near-exclusive focus on myopia management, and in this podcast we discuss how he made the leap to establishing and now running his successful practice, where a majority of his new patients come from...

Professor Mark Bullimore of the University of Houston, Texas USA, tells us more on the complex topic of 0.01% atropine, including its stability as a compound, and takes us on a short journey through chemistry explaining how current studies are using novel formulations to address this issue. Have you heard of ‘heavy water’? I hadn’t, until now! Mark advocates for you to ‘be the doctor’, using the side effects as a gauge of drug efficacy, and even suggests a novel clinical approach in practice...

Lyndon and Debbie Jones from the Centre for Ocular Research and Education and University of Waterloo, Canada, highlight the impact that FDA approval for CooperVision MiSight myopia control contact lens has for eye care practice in the US, and across the world. How does MiSight and the FDA approval fit within the whole ecosystem of myopia control? We cover aspects from contact lens fitting and safety in children through to the strong practice building opportunity of myopia management, and...

Professor James Loughman from Technological University Dublin, and the Centre for Eye Research Ireland, challenges us to think differently about low dose atropine. What are we actually getting in the bottle? How should we approach atropine usage in practice? What will future research tell us? The message on 0.01% atropine is complex and perhaps not what you expect.

Kate Gifford chats to Professor Ian Flitcroft about the International Myopia Institute (IMI) paper on Defining and Classifying Myopia, of which he was the lead author. Topics include why we need to define myopia for clinical, epidemiological and research reasons; grading systems for structural complications of myopia; why the refractive definition doesn't specifically require cycloplegia and the definition of pre-myopia.

Are progressive addition lenses and bifocals created equal for myopia control? How should we pick which lens type to prescribe, and what's on the horizon for our non-contact lens wearing young myopes?