Parents lining up to buy atropine eye drops attract attention Doctors remind: follow the doctor's advice

Beijing, December 29 news (Central Broadcasting Network Reporter Qian Cheng) Recently, a short video of parents queuing up to buy eye drops in Henan Provincial Eye Hospital has aroused concern. It is understood that the full name of the drugs that parents queue up to buy in the hospital is "0.01% atropine sulfate eye drops", which is the hospital's hospital preparation. In the eyes of many parents, this is a "miracle drug" for the treatment of myopia. So, what is the role of this snatched atropine eye drops? Is it really the "savior" of myopia?

According to the data released by the National Health Commission, in 2020, the overall myopia rate of children and adolescents in China was 52.7%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points over 2019 (50.2%). Myopia has become a major public health problem for the eye health of children and adolescents, and it is also a problem that many parents care about and headache.

Recently, a number of eye hospitals have listed in-hospital preparations called atropine eye drops, which has triggered parents to queue up to buy. Shi Menghai, deputy director of the Department of Medical Optometry of Henan Provincial Eye Hospital, told reporters that the drug atropine has been used clinically for a long time, and what has recently attracted attention is the low concentration of atropine eye drops. "We use atropine as a mydriatic agent, which is what we usually call mydriasis refraction. Mydriatic atropine is highly concentrated, with a concentration of about 1%. Now the drug we use to control myopia is called low-concentration atropine, generally speaking, low-concentration atropine generally refers to atropine below 0.1%. ”

0.01% atropine sulfate eye drops (Photo by Shi Yao, Publicity Department, Henan Provincial People's Hospital)

Shi Menghai pointed out that atropine eye drops have the effect of controlling myopia, but they cannot reverse myopia. "Now mainly used in children and adolescents who have developed myopia, in order to delay the speed of their myopia development, atropine eye drops are controlled to develop. Therefore, strictly speaking, it should be called controlling myopia, not treating myopia, and it has no effect on reversing myopia. ”

It is understood that the low concentration of atropine eye drops is still in the stage of use by hospitals as a hospital preparation, and there is no commercial marketing. Shi Menghai reminds everyone that the use of this eye drop must follow the doctor's advice. He said: "The doctor feels that it is necessary for the child to use atropine to control myopia, and if the child is suitable for use, he will prescribe the drug to the patient and then use it." ”

Zhang Xingcai, chief physician and director of the Department of Ophthalmology of Pizhou People's Hospital in Jiangsu Province, said that the main population of low-concentration atropine eye drops is children and adolescents over 6 years old and under 18 years old who are in the stage of myopia development, and whether they can be used can only be determined after the doctor's examination. Zhang Xingcai said: "To carry out eye examination, intraocular pressure measurement, look at the degree of myopia, but also to observe whether there is dry eye syndrome, etc., but also to see the situation of the inner membrane, to exclude other local problems of the eye before use." ”

Shi Weiyun, president of Shandong Provincial Eye Hospital, said that at present, in addition to a small number of genetic factors, most of the myopia in children and adolescents is caused by the environment. "Myopia is generally divided into two categories, one is pathological myopia, pathological myopia is that the degree of myopia develops rapidly, will exceed 600 degrees, often related to heredity, if the father and mother are highly myopic, the probability of high myopia in children is higher than normal people." But now most people are caused by the environment, because there are more people who look close all day, so now the state attaches great importance to reducing children's homework, increasing outdoor activities, and carrying out comprehensive prevention and treatment. ”

Shi Weiyun reminded that drugs such as atropine eye drops cannot reverse myopia, and children and adolescents still need to protect their eyes from developing good reading and writing habits, reducing dependence on electronic products, and letting the eyes rest. Shi Weiyun said: "Atropine is certainly not a 'miracle drug' for the treatment of myopia, but from the current point of view, after the use of atropine in myopic adolescents, 60 to 80% of people myopia can be alleviated, or the degree of myopia increases and slows down." ”

Here also remind everyone, especially teenagers, when reading, writing homework, to maintain the correct sitting posture, too close to the book, easy to cause eye fatigue.

At the same time, it is also necessary to give the eyes a full rest. In the process of learning, pay attention to intervals, rest your eyes, or do eye exercises to protect your vision. In addition, for the use of electronic products, it must be moderate.