Seeing Clearly Into the Future? A Long Sighted Approach to the Prevention of Myopia (Disease/Disorder Overview‪)‬

Myopia or short sightedness is a visual disorder affecting one in four Australians and is a leading cause of vision loss in developed nations. Escalation in the prevalence of myopia around the world has provided increased impetus to study the mechanisms that underlie this condition. Atropine is a drug known to inhibit the progression of myopia in children; however, there are side effects associated with its use such as blurred vision and photophobia. Furthermore, although atropine is effective in preventing the progression of myopia, the mechanism of action of the drug is unknown. This paper reviews the literature on the aetiology of myopia, the mechanisms that regulate eye growth, and the changes in this process that result in myopia. It is hoped that by understanding how ocular growth is regulated, and also how atropine inhibits myopia progression, improved preventative therapies for myopia will eventually be found. WHAT IS MYOPIA?