Less Patchwork

Good news for the million or so kids who have lazy eye: they may not have to wear their eye patch all day anymore. Until now, doctors have recommended that children with lazy eye, or amblyopia, wear a patch over the good eye for six hours a day to help strengthen the weaker one. That prescription often meant that kids had to wear their patches at school and suffer the taunts of classmates. But in the May issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology, researchers report that the eye patch effectively treated moderate amblyopia in 189 children whether it was worn for six hours a day or only two. After four months, more than 75% of kids in both groups could read at least two more lines on the standard eye chart. But simply wearing the patch isn't enough; kids in the study also spent an hour a day on "near work," such as reading, crafts and coloring.