Sex as a risk factor regarding presbyopia in the rhesus monkey.

PURPOSE:To determine the effect of sex as a risk factor regarding presbyopia. METHODS:Maximum accommodation was pharmacologically induced (40% cabachol corneal iontophoresis) in 97 rhesus monkeys (49 males and 48 females) ranging in age from 8 to 36 years old. Accommodation was measured by Hartinger coincidence refractometry. RESULTS:Accommodative amplitude measured refractometrically decreased with age, and the rate of change was not different between males and females (p = 0.827). CONCLUSIONS:Presbyopia is essentially sex neutral, and no one is spared. There may be modest variations between different populations for various reasons, but essentially it is monotonously predictable. At present there is no biological therapeutic.