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Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

economist.com

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Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#331

Post by underwater »

spiffytech wrote: post #268

In my early teens I had 20/15 vision. By the time I went to college I was wearing glasses for nearsightedness. I'm pretty sure it's because I got interested in computers, and started spending all day staring 3ft ahead instead of glancing around outdoors. Some friends in my computer science program passed around each other's glasses and found we all had nearly the same prescription. That didn't seem like a coincidence…

There are also theories that the cause and effect are actually in the other direction: kids with poor distance vision are more likely to spend time reading and studying rather than be outside playing sports.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#332

Post by planarhobbit »

Aulig wrote: post #325

Honestly, myopia is not complicated (Kepler pretty much had it right in 1604 already). There's countless studies showing that axial length (eyeball length) changes in both directions, where elongation increases myopia. How do you change it? You get defocus (blur) which makes the eye adjust in the direction to reduce the blur. Practically: use weaker (around 1.5 diopters) or no glasses during close-up work (reading, c…

Hard to believe after all these years EndMyopia is not only being promoted on HN, but is consistently one of the most upvoted things on the subject. I figured the pros here would slice and dice and find issues with the research and recommendations and explain in depth why it’s snake oil (if it is), but it’s been a fairly forgiving topic.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#333

Post by jamal-kumar »

throwaway202022 wrote: post #310
thaumasiotes wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mine is genetic. > I have very simil[a]r values than my mother. Well, everything is genetic. The amount of sunlight you're exposed to is no less a genetic effect than how tall you grow to be. Without genes, you wouldn't have any behaviors or phenotypes at all. So the interesting question is not "is this phenomenon genetic?", because the answer to that is always "yes". The interesting question is "what can influence…

This is 100% true. Genetic predisposition to something != inevitability.

All of my immediate family members need glasses but me, which is pretty interesting.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#334

Post by underwater »

My child is following in my footsteps and has been prescribed glasses for nearsightedness. Her optometrist told us she should be watching TV rather than reading books. This was both surprising and upsetting, especially since she loves reading.

This lead me on an interesting deep dive into existing research. What surprised me were the massive gaps in understanding. Scientist have at best established correlation between close up work and nearsightedness, and a negative correlation with spending time outside. The actual mechanism in play is unknown, for example the theories about sunlight are still untested. The specific types of close up work that cause issues is unknown. Some scientists have proposed that it's the contrast between white pages and black text that actually causes issues with reading.

My conclusion was that anyone who confidently asserts that $x causes nearsightedness is wrong (this thread is a case in point).

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#335

Post by alar44 »

planarhobbit wrote: post #332
Aulig wrote: post #325

Honestly, myopia is not complicated (Kepler pretty much had it right in 1604 already). There's countless studies showing that axial length (eyeball length) changes in both directions, where elongation increases myopia. How do you change it? You get defocus (blur) which makes the eye adjust in the direction to reduce the blur. Practically: use weaker (around 1.5 diopters) or no glasses during close-up work (reading, c…

Hard to believe after all these years EndMyopia is not only being promoted on HN, but is consistently one of the most upvoted things on the subject. I figured the pros here would slice and dice and find issues with the research and recommendations and explain in depth why it’s snake oil (if it is), but it’s been a fairly forgiving topic.

It's bullshit because there are a ton of reasons why you would need corrective vision. This will work for a small subset but for most will not. And for those who it does help, they'll still need glasses. It's pointless.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#336

Post by Aulig »

alar44 wrote: post #335
planarhobbit wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard to believe after all these years EndMyopia is not only being promoted on HN, but is consistently one of the most upvoted things on the subject. I figured the pros here would slice and dice and find issues with the research and recommendations and explain in depth why it’s snake oil (if it is), but it’s been a fairly forgiving topic.

It's bullshit because there are a ton of reasons why you would need corrective vision. This will work for a small subset but for most will not. And for those who it does help, they'll still need glasses. It's pointless.

It's more likely that it works for a large majority. If you were born myopic or had an accident or something similar, yea it most likely wont work for you. But most myopes do not fall in those categories. I'm very open to hearing your arguments backing up your statement though.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#337

Post by Projectiboga »

underwater wrote: post #334

My child is following in my footsteps and has been prescribed glasses for nearsightedness. Her optometrist told us she should be watching TV rather than reading books. This was both surprising and upsetting, especially since she loves reading. This lead me on an interesting deep dive into existing research. What surprised me were the massive gaps in understanding. Scientist have at best established correlation betwee…

Sunlight onbthe retina helps form Serotonin. Has to be direct or through eyelids, not through any glass. A doctor told me a leading theory about how outside time helps is by shifting focus from faraway to close and back. So look at things up at top of buildings or upper canopy of trees then into some nearby detail back and forth my. It's a kind of excersize for eye focus. My son's eyes have held close to 20/20 into High School. We have good views for this from our apartment. I've taught him to check cornices and close details as he walks to and from school.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#338

Post by hbarka »

underwater wrote: post #331
spiffytech wrote: post #268

In my early teens I had 20/15 vision. By the time I went to college I was wearing glasses for nearsightedness. I'm pretty sure it's because I got interested in computers, and started spending all day staring 3ft ahead instead of glancing around outdoors. Some friends in my computer science program passed around each other's glasses and found we all had nearly the same prescription. That didn't seem like a coincidence…

There are also theories that the cause and effect are actually in the other direction: kids with poor distance vision are more likely to spend time reading and studying rather than be outside playing sports.

Mudslides cause rain

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#339

Post by satellite2 »

rootusrootus wrote: post #300
spiffytech wrote: post #268

In my early teens I had 20/15 vision. By the time I went to college I was wearing glasses for nearsightedness. I'm pretty sure it's because I got interested in computers, and started spending all day staring 3ft ahead instead of glancing around outdoors. Some friends in my computer science program passed around each other's glasses and found we all had nearly the same prescription. That didn't seem like a coincidence…

That may just be lucky coincidence. I've been a computer nerd spending way too many hours in front of my computer since I was a teen. Last eye exam I had was a few years back when I turned 45. 20/20 in one eye, but after I made a remark about having been 20/15 when younger, the tech said "let's try!" and I could still do it. Barely. In only one eye now. But still, after all these years. But really it's presbyopia tha…

You get used to the distortion pretty quickly. Otherwise you can invest in more expensive exams/glasses that correct for it.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#340

Post by nealabq »

underwater wrote: post #334

My child is following in my footsteps and has been prescribed glasses for nearsightedness. Her optometrist told us she should be watching TV rather than reading books. This was both surprising and upsetting, especially since she loves reading. This lead me on an interesting deep dive into existing research. What surprised me were the massive gaps in understanding. Scientist have at best established correlation betwee…

In my nearsighted family (parents, 2 kids) we've concluded that reading printed-pages makes you get nearsighted faster than reading words on a computer screen.

This seems to work for us. Don't know about anyone else. I'm very nearsighted (-14 diopters), but I grew up reading books on paper.

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