Can meditation help heal a Stress-Related eye condition?
NCT ID NCT07767058
First seen Aug 17, 2026 · Last updated Aug 28, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This trial tests whether an 8-week mindfulness course can shorten the duration of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR), an eye condition where fluid builds up under the retina, often linked to stress. Adults with active CSCR will either take the mindfulness course or receive no mindfulness, and researchers will track how quickly the fluid resolves. The study also compares stress-related factors between people with CSCR and those with healthy eyes, and explores whether mindfulness changes these factors. Participants attend monthly checkups for six months and a final visit at 12 months.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- An 8-week mindfulness-based therapy course, including daily practices and fortnightly group sessions
- What this could lead to
- If effective, this could offer a drug-free, stress-targeting approach to help resolve central serous chorioretinopathy faster and improve vision outcomes.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small pilot study, so results may not be conclusive. The therapy requires daily commitment, and its effect on eye disease is uncertain.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 100 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Oct 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2030
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
INCLUSION CRITERIA: CSCR Cases: 1. Adults (\> 18 years old) 2. Active fovea-involving CSCR 3. Both of the following major diagnostic criteria\*: 1. Presence of SRF within the central 1mm subfield (circular zone of 1mm diameter centred on the foveal umbo) on OCT scan 2. At least 1 area of RPE alteration on fundus autofluorescence, OCT or infrared imaging 4. Any one of the following minor diagnostic criteria\*: 1. Sub-foveal choroidal thickness ≥ 400 µm on OCT 2. ≥ 1 focal leak on FFA 3. Mid-phase hyperfluorescent placoid areas on ICGA 5. First episode or a distinct recurrent episode 6. Duration of current episode \< 180 days 7. No other cause for the above findings (e.g. diabetic retinopathy, exudative age-related macular degeneration, or polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy) * Inclusion criteria based on the Central Serous Chorioretinopathy International Group diagnostic criteria for idiopathic CSCR.13 According to these criteria, an FFA and ICG are not required for diagnosis if choroidal thickness on OCT is ≥ 400 µm. Therefore, review OCT before performing FFA and/or ICGA. Non-CSCR Cases: 1. Adults (\> 18 years old) 2. Approximately age- and sex-matched to CSCR cases 3. No CSCR 4. No other BCVA-affecting ocular disease or condition EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Study eye: 1. Any treatment for current or previous CSCR with PDT or laser 2. Use of any topical medication for CSCR currently, or in the last 90 days 3. Use of topical steroids or carbonic anhydrase inhibitors currently, or in the last 90 days 4. Intraocular anti-VEGF therapy in the last 180 days 5. Intraocular steroids in the last 180 days or intraocular steroid implant in the last 3 years 6. Treatment with retinal or macular laser at any point (except peripheral laser retinopexy at least 90 days prior) 7. Cryotherapy within 90 days 8. Previous cyclodiode therapy at any point 9. Laser refractive surgery within 90 days 10. Intraocular surgery within 90 days 11. Presence of any other disease that could cause retinal or SRF (e.g. diabetic retinopathy, exudative age-related macular degeneration, or polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy) 12. Current or prior retinal or choroidal neovascularisation of any cause 13. Diabetic retinopathy 14. Presence of any other disease which is thought to be currently affecting BCVA, or likely to do so during study participation 15. Media opacity precluding fundus examination and/or imaging (e.g. dense cataract) General: 16. Current, recent (within 90 days) or anticipated (during study participation) treatment with systemic anti-VEGF therapy, oral/intravenous/intramuscular steroids, systemic carbonic anhydrase inhibitors or systemic hormone therapy (except hormonal contraception) 17. Current or recent (within 90 days) practice of regular (more than twice per week) meditation or mindfulness 18. Unable, unwilling or unlikely to undertake study activities 19. Any condition which, in the opinion of the investigator, would prevent the participant from granting informed consent or complying with the protocol, such as dementia, mental illness, or serious systemic medical disease Where potential CSCR participants present with both eyes meeting the above criteria, one eye only will be included in the study. The eye with the greatest central 1 mm subfield thickness (µm) on OCT imaging will be the study eye. In these participants, data on the fellow affected eye in the study will still be collected, to allow the possibility of looking at the symmetry of outcomes between eyes of an individual but will not be included in formal statistical analysis. For non-CSCR participants, only one eye will be included in the study. Where potential non-CSCR participants present with both eyes meeting the above criteria, the study eye will be chosen at random by last digit of their day of birth, with even numbers including 0 corresponding to right eye and odd numbers corresponding to left eye (e.g. DOB 31/12/1960 = left eye).
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
6 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Bristol Eye Hospital
Bristol, BS1 2LX, United Kingdom
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Clinical Eye Research Centre, St Paul's Eye Unit, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust
Liverpool, L7 8YE, United Kingdom
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Hillingdon Hospital
London, UB8 3NN, United Kingdom
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Kent and Canterbury Hospital
Canterbury, CT1 3NG, United Kingdom
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King's College Hospital
London, SE5 9RS, United Kingdom
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King's College London Frost Eye Departent, Guys' and St Thomas' Hospital
London, SE1 7EH, United Kingdom
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