Repeated low-level red-light therapy: a novel method for myopia prevention and control / 中华实验眼科杂志

ABSTRACT

China has recently proposed a countrywide myopia control strategy for children and adolescents due to the rapidly increasing incidence and early onset of myopia.Recent studies have proposed interventions and methods for myopia prevention and control, such as low-dose atropine and orthokeratology lens, while the current strategies are subject to cause inconvenience and ineligible risks of side effects.Although accumulating evidence has shown that increased time outdoors is effective in reducing the risk of myopia development, its effect is closely related to light exposure.Interventions to enhance time spent outdoors or further increase on light exposure to prevent myopia are pragmatically challenging.A multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) led by Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, adopted repeated low-level red-light (RLRL) to deliver light on the retina directly for a much shorter duration of exposure but repeatedly, and further assessed the efficacy and safety of RLRL therapy in myopia control among children.Findings from the RCT showed promising efficacy of RLRL therapy in slowing myopia progression among school-age children with mild to moderate myopia, providing high-level evidence for RLRL therapy as a safe and efficacious strategy for reducing myopia progression.This paper summarized the findings from the RCT, discussed how to adopt such a treatment for myopia control in clinical practice, and further suggested eye care service providers to follow the research progress of RLRL therapy for myopia prevention and control.