The term presbyopia means 'old eye' and is a vision condition involving the loss of the eye's ability to focus on close objects. All eyecare professionals accept that presbyopia is a condition that occurs as a part of normal ageing and is not considered to be an eye disease. The process occurs gradually over a number of years. Symptoms are usually noticeable by the age of 40–45 years and continue to develop until the process stabilizes some 10–20 years later.

Presbyopia occurs without regard to other eye conditions. The smooth ciliary body muscles pull and push the lens, adjusting its curvature, and thereby adjusting the eye's focal power to bring objects into focus. As individuals age, the lens becomes stiffer, more resilient to flexure , and the muscular activity in the ciliary body become less powerful. Because these changes result in inadequate adjustment of the lens of the eye for various distances, objects that are close will appear blurry. The major cause of presbyopia is loss of elasticity of the lens of the eye. Loss of ciliary muscle power, however, is also believed to contribute to the problem.

Incurable problem

Presbyopia cannot be cured, but individuals can compensate for it by wearing reading, bifocal, trifocal or multifocal eyeglasses or contact lens variates. The common types of contact lenses prescribed for this condition are bifocal, multifocal and monovision contact lenses.

Bifocal contact lenses are similar to bifocal glasses but with limited success. The top portion of the lens serves as the distance lens while the lower serves as the near vision lens. To prevent rotation while in the eye, bifocal contacts use a specially manufactured type of lens. Good candidates for bifocal lenses are those patients who have a good tear film (moist eyes), good binocular vision (ability to focus both eyes together) and visual acuity in each eye, and no disease or abnormalities in the eyelids.

Multifocal contacts tend to either extend the range of acceptable vision from far to near or provide images of distant and near objects simultaneously over the macula. Many of these contact lens designs have been around for more than half a century.

A third alternative is refractive surgery for presbyopia either by a specific laser paradigm or by refractive lens exchange — replacing the natural lens with a bi- or multifocal intraocular lens.

A fourth alternative is now about to be introduced to the wider public. Presbyeyedrops — Método Benozzi is a medical treatment to correct presbyopia by means of ophthalmic drops. It is a pharmacological treatment for presbyopia that avoids the use of eye glasses, contacts or invasive surgery. It consists of an ophthalmic drop patented by Dr Jorge Benozzi which contains a combination of two drugs: a parasympathomimetic and a nonsteroid antiinflammatory agent. Together, they both act on the ciliary muscle responsible for the necessary changes of the lens in accommodation (or focus).

During his research on the drops for presbyopia, Dr Benozzi investigated the causes of this disease, and found that one cause is related to the progressive decrease in the production of the neurotransmitter responsible for the stimulation of the ciliary muscle in the human eye. By means of this drop, the eye is kick-started, provided with that neurotransmitter that the system stopped producing and in the necessary amount; thereby compensating this deficiency and recovering the compromised near vision.