A new era of contact lens design has the potential to dramatically change lifestyles of presbyopes and treat growing numbers of young patients with myopia.
The need for more practitioners to embrace latest technologies was perhaps one of the driving forces for a BCLA Contact Lens Hub feature at this year’s Optrafair (April 14-16).
The optical body’s president Keith Tempany and chief executive Cheryl Donnelly met Optician at the Hub on the final day of Optrafair to explain more.
Donnelly said: ‘The people who come to Optrafair are not the people that the BCLA normally sees. We are speaking to people who sell contact lenses but are not out necessarily there doing it every day.
‘It was really busy yesterday and the people who were here were the people we wanted to talk to.’
The BCLA provided expert advice, peer review sessions and CET lectures at the Hub. Discussion topics included managing presbyopia, myopia, dry eye and ocular surface health.
Practitioners were urged to start the conversation early with presbyopes, and manufacturers credited by both Tempany and Donnelly for creating multifocal contact lens products that reduced chair time.
‘We need to educate people that there are changes afoot and we need to manage those changes together,’ added Donnelly.
In addition to its activity at Optrafair, a double dose of BCLA UK has been scheduled for June 4 at Conference Aston in Birmingham and June 10 at the IET Savoy in London.
The BCLA Asia Conference, in collaboration with Singapore Optometric Association (SOA), also returns on September 18-19, illustrating the level of prestige UK contact lens experts are achieving overseas.
‘The UK doesn’t always realise it has this fantastic resource [the BCLA] right on the doorstep,’ added Donnelly. ‘We are at an interesting point and the education review is key to the future of optics.’
A key issue at BCLA Asia is sure to be the myopia epidemic, most deeply felt on the continent, and increased prevalence of the eye condition domestically was a common theme at Optrafair.
Tempany (pictured) said: ‘It shouldn’t be a niche thing but there is a reluctance [to fit myopia control lenses]. This generation will be the most myopic in history but we have the tools to deal with it.’
Meanwhile, there was a thirst for knowledge among visitors to the BCLA Hub around paediatric eye care in general, and Tempany told Optician the BCLA would follow up its new Certificate in Dry Eye and Retention Management with a Paediatric Care qualification next year.
Indeed, the sentiment was reinforced during a presentation at Optrafair’s CET Theatre entitled ‘Myopia vs Obesity’, delivered by Ocuco clinical and research director Professor James Loughman.
Describing each of the health conditions as new epidemics, Prof Loughman looked back at diseases to have plagued populations in years gone by, including tuberculosis (TB), cholera and the Black Death.
He noted that obesity was now classed as a disease in the US.
‘Myopia is the most common and fastest growing eye condition worldwide. There is an argument to class it as a disease and treat it a little bit differently to how we currently do in clinical practice,’ Prof Loughman said. ‘There is absolutely no safe level of myopia. Each child with myopia is at an increased risk of glaucoma and cataract. Our role as optometrists is to intervene in that and manage the condition.’
More myopia research needed
Prof Loughman noted that 97% of young people were myopic in parts of Asia but said it was also an escalating issue in Europe.
However, despite spreading at a higher rate than obesity, he cited a distinct lack of research into myopia. Figures showed 1,698 studies have been carried out on obesity equating to a total $4bn investment, compared to a mere 145 studies on myopia. In addition, public health messages about smoking and healthy eating were seldom aimed at eye conditions.
All this was despite latest statistics from the Brien Holden Vision Institute showing that, based on current trends, 50% of the world’s population will be myopic by 2050.
‘We think of myopia as an Asian condition but it is not when you look at how things are developing here,’ added Prof Loughman.
Furthermore, intervention treatments for myopia, including atropine, Ortho-K and myopia contact lenses, were deemed to be more efficient than those aimed at obesity, and during Optrafair weekend the new MiSight by CooperVision won the Optician Award for Contact Lens Product of the Year. MiSight, a one-day disposable lens that has been shown to slow down myopia by 59%, has been released to a selected group of UK practices this year – with a wider rollout ahead.
Meanwhile, US healthcare giant Johnson and Johnson Vision showcased its 1-Day Acuvue Moist Multifocal contact lens and Acuvue Oasys 1-Day with HydraLuxe Technology during Optrafair.
Oasys 1-Day with HydraLuxe Technology was bolstered last month by the Commonwealth Games feats of brand ambassador Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who won gold in the heptathlon event.
Not a dry eye in the hall
With ocular surface health so important to contact lens wear, suppliers of dry eye drops and solutions products were also at hand to promote their latest products at the NEC Birmingham.
Altacor’s stand
Altacor product portfolio manager Oliver Wooding said: ‘It was another great year at Optrafair, where Altacor got to meet plenty of customers old and new. The show felt more lively, with the additional of more open spaces and the catwalk.’
The company took most orders for its dry eye products on the Sunday of Optrafair, through show-only offers.
‘We welcomed lots of questions regarding our dry eye drops, and punctum plugs off the back of some great CET talks on dry eye,’ Wooding added. Questions on Clinitas included if its preservative-free [yes], how long the bottle lasts once opened [three months] and if training is available for our punctum plugs [yes].’
Wooding said dry eye had become a topical area in contact lens care, with new evidence arising from an updated TFOS DEWS II report.
Ensuring the use of a preservative-free eye drop and recommending a heat, cleanse and hydrate routine for dry eye and blepharitis patients was recommended, as was discussing environmental factors with patients, such as screen usage and digital eye strain.
Avizor at Optrafair
Visitors to Optrafair were also keen to discuss opening dry eye clinics, being part of Mecs schemes and what to recommend that is good value for money, added Wooding.
Avizor general manager UK & Ireland Gary Daniels witnessed a ‘higher than expected’ demand during Optrafair, ‘with many attendees/visitors seeking us out, as they really wanted to learn more about our products’.
‘We achieved a high level of interest in our Lacrifresh Ocu-Dry range of Dry Eye drops, as many had heard of the Dews II report and Nick Dash talking about the products. Many were aware of osmolarity and that this is the most important factor when considering a dry eye treatment. We achieved good interest for the dry eye workshop on the BCLA Hub, which provided good insights and education,’ added Daniels.