For how we live.
Open-angle glaucoma steals side vision so slowly that half of people who have it don't know. There is no way to prevent it — but a placebo-controlled trial showed pressure-lowering drops preserve vision.
Floaters are usually ageing changes in the eye's gel. But among people who suddenly develop floaters and flashes, about 14% turn out to have a retinal tear — which can lead to permanent vision loss if left.
Eye exercises won't sharpen blurry sight or cure nearsightedness — glasses and surgery do that. But one focusing problem, convergence insufficiency, does respond: an office-based programme helped 73% in a trial.
By age 80 most people have a cataract or have had one removed. You can lower some risks, but the antioxidant vitamins tested in a 4,629-person trial did not slow them, and surgery is the only cure.
Reading in poor light makes eyes feel tired, but there is no evidence it causes lasting damage. What really shapes eyesight is near-work load and time in bright daylight — and it acts in childhood.
The advice to look 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes is everywhere. A two-week trial in symptomatic computer users found it cut eye-strain and dry-eye symptoms, but changed no measurable sign of eye health.
Artificial tears are still the mainstay, but the trial evidence cannot say which brand is best. A 3,000 mg fish-oil study in 535 people found no benefit over an olive-oil placebo.
Across 17 randomised trials, blue-light filtering lenses showed no clear benefit for eye strain, vision or sleep. The evening-screen problem they target is real; this is not the fix.
An autonomous AI for diabetic retinopathy hit 87.2% sensitivity in primary care. A smartphone acuity test agreed with a reference chart to within 0.07 logMAR. Both are triage, not diagnosis.
Stargardt disease, the most common inherited macular dystrophy, has no approved treatment. In the 50-patient TEASE-1 trial, gildeuretinol slowed atrophic lesion growth by a fraction of a millimetre a year.
WHO validated Timor-Leste's elimination of trachoma, the last suspected focus in its South-East Asia Region. A 2025 survey of 4,949 young children found no transmission requiring intervention.
Serious contact-lens eye infections are uncommon in absolute terms, but overnight wear is the single largest modifiable risk factor. The rare cases can scar the cornea and cost vision.
Reviews put patient satisfaction around 95 percent. FDA-collaborative studies also found that a large minority reported new glare, halos or dry eyes afterward — two true findings that must be held together.
WHO validated Egypt as the 27th country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. Its programme began in 2002; the disease still blinds or impairs about 1.9 million people elsewhere.