Clinical Studies

This article isn't fully developed, there are many studies that could go on this page that aren't here at the moment.

Causes of Myopia

Lens induced myopia & axial length change in humans

• "Significant changes in optical axial length occurred in human subjects after 60 minutes of monocular defocus." IOVS, 2010
• "The human eye is able to discern the sign of defocus within minutes after exposure to blur and make changes in its axial length in a direction to reduce the amount of retinal blur", Scientific Reports, 2020
• "During relatively short periods of accommodative stimulation, axial length increases in ... young adults", IOVS, 2006
• "The eye undergoes a significant axial elongation associated with a brief period of accommodation...", OVS, 2010
• "It is therefore clear that preventive approaches need to concentrate on measures that prevent or reduce axial elongation, since this would result in a reduction in both the need for refractive correction and the long-term pathological outcomes", Acad Med Singapore, 2004
• "Refractive correction of myopia will lead to accelerated progression", OPO, 2007
• "Continuous correction of myopia results in a linear progression that increases myopia...", GACEO, 2015
• "...A reduction in the axial length of the adult eye serves as an emmetropizing mechanism...", AJOPO, 1987

Lens induced myopia & axial length change in animals

• "Extrapolation of these (animal) findings to humans predicts that natural emmetropization (normal eye development) will be inhibited...by early intervention with prescription lenses..." OPO, 2007
• "It has been suggested that environmental factors such as extensive near work act as triggers of myopia....The expression of AL (Axial Length) genes activated by environmental factors leads to the elongation of AL (Axial Length)." Ophthalmologica, 2011
• "Hyperopic defocus accelerated vitreous chamber elongation (Axial Length) and produced myopic shifts in refractive error...Following lens removal, the...monkeys recovered from the induced myopia..." IOVS, 2013
• "We demonstrated that eyes of young animals of various species (chick, tree shrew, marmoset, and rhesus macaque) can shorten in the axial dimension in response to myopic defocus." IOVS, 2013
• "The chick eye is able to change its refractive state by as much as 7 D by pushing the retina forward or pulling it back (when stimulated by lense use)..." VR, 1995
• "Chicks' eyes rapidly compensate for defocus imposed by spectacle lenses...The complex etiology (cause) of human myopia may reflect these temporal properties." IOVS, 2009
• "If the effective focal length of a growing eye is modified by spectacle lenses, the eye compensates by altering its growth, thereby keeping images in focus..." VR, 2002
• "In a matter of minutes, the eye can know which way to grow..." IOVS, 2005
• "...spectacle lenses could predictably alter the growth of...eyes resulting in ... refractive changes in both the hyperopic and myopic directions." VR, 1999

Nearwork-Induced Transient Myopia (NITM) & Nearwork Causing Permanent Myopia

• "Today there no longer seems to be any question that nearwork is a causal factor for myopia. " The Lancet, 2000
• "People who do an excessive amount of near-vision work may experience a false or "pseudo" myopia...Clear distance vision usually returns after resting the eyes. However, constant visual stress may lead to a permanent reduction in distance vision over time. " American Optometric Association

Reversing Myopia

Outdoor time & distance vision

• "It is now well established that spending more time outdoors during childhood lowers the risk of developing myopia..." BJO, 2020

Using reduced or no lenses (myopic defocus)

• "Results of this study suggest that such children, if myopic, may have an additional benefit of slowed progression of myopia." IOVS, 2004
• "Eyes of chick, tree shrew, marmoset, and rhesus macaque can shorten axially when presented with myopic defocus...Implications for human myopia control are significant." IOVS, 2013

Active Focus (accomodative training)

• "Training of the accommodative system...resulted in improved dynamics...This is consistent with earlier reports in the literature of improvements..." OVS, 2009