NYT: To Read the Menu, Baby Boomers Turn to Eye Treatments [RSS]
Last month, the F.D.A. approved the latest surgical procedure, called conductive keratoplasty, to correct a common near-vision problem for people whose eyesight is otherwise excellent, in a minimally invasive way.
Unlike Lasik, the popular laser surgery, conductive keratoplasty procedures do not involve using lasers to change the shape of the eye. Instead, a tiny instrument applies radio waves in a circular pattern on the outer cornea, shrinking small areas of collagen, a fibrous protein found in connective tissue, bone and cartilage. The treatment increases the cornea’s curvature, improving near vision.
In the last few years, about three million people, as many as 5 percent of Americans with vision problems, have opted for Lasik surgery to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. In Lasik, the surgeon cuts and pulls a flap in the cornea and then uses a laser to reshape the underlying tissue at a cost of up to $1,600 an eye. Neither Lasik nor conductive keratoplasty is covered by most insurance plans.
The latest procedure is only one of an array of new vision therapies, recently introduced or in late stages of development. They include improvements that make laser surgery machines more accurate and eliminate the knife blade typically used to prepare the eye, as well as a dozen new types of lens implants.
One new artificial lens mimics a healthy 20-year-old’s ability to see at both near and far distances. Others eliminate harmful high-spectrum blue light, reducing the need for sunglasses.
Scientific progress on this front has been simply amazing. We’ve gone from people relying on colonial era eyeglass technology to something that’s surpassing the imagination of science fiction writers over the last twenty years or so.
I had Lasik done a little over four years ago, after developing an allergy to contact lenses, and went from having to take an educated guess at that big “E” atop the eye charts to total independence from corrective lenses. It’s astounding to me that health insurance plans still act as if this is some sort of cosmetic surgery. Even from a business standpoint, it seems odd for plans that include vision care (as mine did), since the cost of glasses or contact lenses will eclipse that of the surgery in relatively short order.
