NEW CONTACT LENSES MAY ALLOW MONTHLONG USE.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. A new kind of contact lens contact lens, thin plastic lens worn between the eye and eyelid that may be used instead of eyeglasses. Actors, models, and others wear them for appearance, and athletes use them for safety and convenience. allows more oxygen to reach the eye, lowering risk of infection and allowing the wearer to wear them around the clock for weeks at a time, research shows. ``The prediction is it will be safer in daily wear and extended wear and for the first time might be able to go 30 days,'' said Dr. H. Dwight Cavanagh, vice chairman of ophthalmology ophthalmology (ŏf'thălmŏl`əjē), branch of medicine specializing in the anatomy, function and diseases of the eye. Ophthalmologists specialize in the medical and surgical treatment of eye disorders, vision measurements for at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. That would be a revolution in extended use for millions of people who wear contact lenses contact lenses contact npl → verres mpl de contact contact lenses contact npl → Kontaktlinsen pl contact lenses npl . Since 1987, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said the longest that any contact lens can be safely worn is six nights in a row. Cavanagh's latest research has demonstrated that the more oxygen that passes through a soft contact lens, the fewer bacteria get a chance to stick to the eye's surface cells and cause trouble. In the worst cases, corneal ulcers Corneal Ulcers Definition The cornea, the clear front part of the eye through which light passes, is subject to many infections and to injury from exposure and from foreign objects. and infections can lead to scarring and blindness. The new lenses are made from a plastic that allows twice as much or more oxygen to reach the cornea cornea: see eye. as soft lenses now on the market. If approved for long-term use, the lenses would have great appeal for the estimated 30 million to 40 million Americans who wear contact lenses. In his experiment, Cavanagh's test subjects wore new high-oxygen soft contact lenses continuously for three months. Cavanagh, who was careful to say he's not suggesting anyone leave a lens in that long, presented his new results at a recent seminar sponsored by Research to Prevent Blindness, a voluntary organization that supports eye research. |
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