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Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

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Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#11

Post by ptah »

fghkbvj wrote: post #9

Isn't myopia beneficial? When eyes get adapted to screens, books maybe it's bettter? I can see every single pixel on screens and it's very useful in daily life. Far sight is useful only rarely - when driving, and when hiking in mountains. And near sight worsens with age, maybe previous myopia slightly prevents that. On quora they agree https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-being-short-sigh... Thanks for remindi…

that quora answer erroneously mentions natural selection. i am not aware of any genetic causes ofmyopia

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#12

Post by Ididntdothis »

hmottestad wrote: post #3
ak39 wrote: post #2

I had 2020 vision till 2012 (39 years old then). I am convinced that my myopia onset was perceptibly accelerated with the purchase of my first "smart phone". And the constant use of it: Whatsapp & twitter. Can the damage be reversed?

I'm 31 and I had perfect vision just 3 or so years ago. I got my first smart phone 6 years ago and I too wonder if I would have better vision today if I had used it less. And right now I'm wondering if I should create a regiment of "looking outside" for an hour every day at work. Maybe that would help at least stop things from getting worse.

I definitely notice my vision getting worse when I use my phone for a while. Especially long or mid distance view suffers. It takes a few minutes to hours to get back to normal. Laptop screens have much less of this effect.

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#13

Post by notkid »

The other side of this problem is that more than one billion people around the world can't afford glasses.

"More than a billion people around the world need eyeglasses but don’t have them, researchers say, an affliction long overlooked on lists of public health priorities. Some estimates put that figure closer to 2.5 billion people. They include thousands of nearsighted Nigerian truck drivers who strain to see pedestrians darting across the road and middle-aged coffee farmers in Bolivia whose inability to see objects up close makes it hard to spot ripe beans for harvest. Then there are the tens of millions of children like Shivam across the world whose families cannot afford an eye exam or the prescription eyeglasses that would help them excel in school."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/health/glasses-developing...

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#14

Post by danielbln »

ptah wrote: post #11
fghkbvj wrote: post #9

Isn't myopia beneficial? When eyes get adapted to screens, books maybe it's bettter? I can see every single pixel on screens and it's very useful in daily life. Far sight is useful only rarely - when driving, and when hiking in mountains. And near sight worsens with age, maybe previous myopia slightly prevents that. On quora they agree https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-being-short-sigh... Thanks for remindi…

that quora answer erroneously mentions natural selection. i am not aware of any genetic causes ofmyopia

> The underlying cause is believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-sightedness

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#15

Post by notkid »

notkid wrote: post #13

The other side of this problem is that more than one billion people around the world can't afford glasses. "More than a billion people around the world need eyeglasses but don’t have them, researchers say, an affliction long overlooked on lists of public health priorities. Some estimates put that figure closer to 2.5 billion people. They include thousands of nearsighted Nigerian truck drivers who strain to see pedest…

VisionSpring, a social venture, provides people glasses - which they say costs them $4-5 each. They claim that uncorrected refractive error costs the global economy an estimated $227 billion a year. https://visionspring.org/why-eyeglasses

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#16

Post by frant-hartm »

fghkbvj wrote: post #9

Isn't myopia beneficial? When eyes get adapted to screens, books maybe it's bettter? I can see every single pixel on screens and it's very useful in daily life. Far sight is useful only rarely - when driving, and when hiking in mountains. And near sight worsens with age, maybe previous myopia slightly prevents that. On quora they agree https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-being-short-sigh... Thanks for remindi…

No, I have -4D and can't see a screen clearly from more than 25 cm.

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#17

Post by srbby »

I can attest that I'm short sighted and the problem becomes much much worse if I spend a lot of time in front of my computer.

Some days when I go out early in the morning I can see everything perfectly, and other days I can't even read a number plate that is five metres away.

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#18

Post by [deleted] »

notkid wrote: post #13

The other side of this problem is that more than one billion people around the world can't afford glasses. "More than a billion people around the world need eyeglasses but don’t have them, researchers say, an affliction long overlooked on lists of public health priorities. Some estimates put that figure closer to 2.5 billion people. They include thousands of nearsighted Nigerian truck drivers who strain to see pedest…

[deleted]

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#19

Post by lm28469 »

fghkbvj wrote: post #9

Isn't myopia beneficial? When eyes get adapted to screens, books maybe it's bettter? I can see every single pixel on screens and it's very useful in daily life. Far sight is useful only rarely - when driving, and when hiking in mountains. And near sight worsens with age, maybe previous myopia slightly prevents that. On quora they agree https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-being-short-sigh... Thanks for remindi…

> I can see every single pixel on screens and it's very useful in daily life

Can you elaborate ?

Re: Increased rates of myopia linked to reduced time outside, studies suggest (2015)

#20

Post by taneq »

"Increased risk of wetness linked to reduced distance from water, studies suggest."

Human bodies autocalibrate for their environment to a remarkable degree on virtually every axis, moreso during childhood and adolescence and to a lesser degree after reaching maturity. I can't fathom why anyone would doubt that spending all of your time staring at nearby objects causes your eyes to adapt to staring at nearby objects.

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