Scientists have found a new way to get rid of flies before their eyes

Probably, you have often noticed incomprehensible flies that float before your eyes? Scientists have recently tried laser therapy to get rid of them. The results of their study, which tested this new treatment, were published last week in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

Why flies appear before the eyes

First of all, it is worth to understand what these flies are in fact. In most cases, they look like uneven strands in peripheral vision, although sometimes they may appear as black dots or spots. This illusion is caused by particles of the collagen protein that float in the gel-like liquid in the back of the eyeball and cast a shadow on the retina when light enters the eye.

In most cases, flies in front of the eyes can easily be ignored, but for some people, especially aged, this problem can be quite serious and even affect their vision. In severe cases, flies can be a sign of detachment of the retina. But, again, they have every person, so that most often there is no cause for concern. In severe cases, this problem is solved with the help of operations, but at the moment there are no medicines on the pharmaceutical market that would help get rid of this symptom.

Study of non-invasive methods of treatment

Ophthalmic consultants Dr. Chirag Shaz and Jeffrey Heyer from Boston conducted a new study to improve the non-invasive solution to this problem. They say that for many years laser treatment has been used to get rid of flies, but even now there is very little scientific literature on its effectiveness.

The study involved 52 patients: 36 were exposed to YAG laser vitreolysis, while the rest were treated with placebo using a very weak laser diode.

results

Six months after the treatment, 54% of the participants who received YAG laser treatment reported a significant improvement in overall well-being compared to the control group (only 9%). The treatment was also relatively safe, as patients did not report any adverse effects.

But before such treatment becomes widely available, additional work will be necessary. As the authors note, this study involved only 52 patients, and the period after treatment was not long enough to finally understand whether it has a permanent effect. In addition, long-term effects are also not yet known.

To be completely confident in the effectiveness of treatment, scientists will need to conduct a larger confirmatory study, increasing its duration.