Anti-Inflammatory Drugs May Slow Myopia

Anti-inflammatory medications can slow myopia progression by targeting inflammation-related retinal and scleral changes. Photo: Getty Images. Click image to enlarge. Children treated with systemic anti-inflammatory medications for chronic inflammatory diseases developed myopia at a slower rate and experienced a later onset of nearsightedness compared with untreated children, according to a retrospective study presented at the ARVO 2026 annual meeting.Researchers reviewed charts from children and young adults between zero and 22 years of age who had received long-term anti-inflammatory treatment for conditions such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis, lupus erythematosus and ankylosing spondylitis. They compared refractive development in these patients with age-matched controls without any conditions who underwent routine eye examinations.The study included 154 patients across 318 visits. Investigators analyzed cycloplegic refractions and calculated refractive error as spherical equivalent, defined as sphere plus half of the cylinder value.Results showed that myopia progression occurred significantly faster in the control group than in patients treated with anti-inflammatory agents. Control patients experienced progression at a rate of -0.24D per year, while treated patients progressed at -0.11D per year. The researchers also estimated that myopia onset occurred around age 10 in the control group compared with age 17 in the anti-inflammatory treatment group.Investigators noted that average refractive error remained similar between groups among children ages zero to nine years, suggesting differences became more apparent later in childhood and adolescence.The authors stated that these findings supported previous laboratory research suggesting inflammatory pathways may contribute to myopia development. Current pharmacologic treatment for progressive myopia commonly includes low-dose atropine, although its mechanism remains unclear. They also proposed that environmental stimuli may trigger inflammatory mediators involved in refractive change and that suppressing inflammation could alter the progression of myopia over time. Original abstracts ©2026 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Click here for the source. Summers J, Harrigill M, Yanovitch T, et al. The role of systemic anti-inflammatory agents on refractive development: a retrospective study in children. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. May 3, 2026. ARVO 2026 annual meeting. This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.