Hacker News Reader

Atropine! From nightshade (belladonna) or mandrake. Coool. I’m waiting for eye dilation for cosmetic purposes to be cool again.

Wonder how they figured out it helped with myopia in kids…

View on HN

It's based on understanding the (theorized) disease process and trying to prevent it. If the problem is that you're looking at nearby stuff too much (e.g. phone screens held less than a foot away from the eyes), then that means your eye muscles are contracting too much. Atropine paralyzed the eye muscles and forces them to look further away because nearby stuff would be blurry.

That's kinda putting the cart before the horse.

My kid's in a Steiner preschool and they start the day with two hours or so in outdoor play. That oughta do the trick. Plenty of far focus.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com