Shortsightedness has become an epidemic • Hacker News Board

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#291

Post by delecti » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 3:49 PM UTC

sumy23 wrote: post #232

delecti wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least if wikipedia's summary is to be believed, that's one of the less supported of many potential theories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia#Environmental_factors Their summary seems to suggest that the biggest factor is exposure to daylight. So then even reading outside ought theoretically protect against nearsightedness.

> People, and children especially, who spend more time doing physical exercise and outdoor play have lower rates of myopia,[30][29][31][32][33] suggesting the increased magnitude and complexity of the visual stimuli encountered during these types of activities decrease myopic progression. There is preliminary evidence that the protective effect of outdoor activities on the development of myopia is due, at least in pa…

> The near work hypothesis, also referred to as the "use-abuse theory" states that spending time involved in near work strains the intraocular and extraocular muscles. Some studies support the hypothesis, while other studies do not.[3] While an association is present, it is not clearly causal.[3]

This is what I meant. The GP comment included "and thereby not focusing their eyes over longer distances", which I interpreted to be in contrast to spending time indoors and looking at things close to you. So it's not that things far from you are protective, but specifically variety seems to be. So I think we mostly agree.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#292

Post by citruscomputing » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 3:50 PM UTC

scotty79 wrote: post #7

Could we just have rooms lit as strongly as outdoors?

Yes! I'm experimenting with this right now with a very bright, color temp adjustable, high-CRI photography lamp, and the difference is, well, night and day. There are several good posts out there on the subject.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#293

Post by dragonwriter » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 3:51 PM UTC

qiskit wrote: post #280

geoffmanning wrote: post #263

I read the title and immediately agreed, but i had misinterpreted "short-sightedness" as the inability to consider the long-term effects of our choices and habits, at least to the effect of making positive changes, rather than the ocular deficiency.

Quoted post unavailable.

> I guess the geniuses at the economist don't know the difference between being shortsighted and being nearsighted

It's funny when people who speak American mock the British for speaking English instead.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#294

Post by stevebmark » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 3:53 PM UTC

mattlondon wrote: post #64

I wonder if indoor lighting at the appropriate temperature would help prevent this? In the UK we don't get a lot of sunlight in the winter months. It would be nice to know that we can turn on a "sun lamp" or whatever for homework time to help alleviate the issues.

Nope! Myopia isn’t related to natural light. It’s the eye growing in response to over focusing in peripheral vision.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#295

Post by qiskit » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 3:53 PM UTC

DharmaPolice wrote: post #289

qiskit wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

The Economist is a British publication and in the UK we use "shortsighted" more than "nearsighted" E.g. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/short-sightedness/

Don't care. It's a global publication. America sets the standard in english so use the standard. That goes for spelling 'favor/labor/etc' correctly.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#296

Post by chasebank » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 3:57 PM UTC

wiseowise wrote: post #39

nilsbunger wrote: post #2

I didn’t realize the evidence is strong that daylight keeps kids from becoming near-sighted. Making young kids study all the time is killing their eyesight!

I spent all my childhood outside and still near-sighted.

My friend has never had a vaccine and brags he's never gotten measles...

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#297

Post by nalllar » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 3:59 PM UTC

astrange wrote: post #36

rightbyte wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this was the case people living far north should be in a really bad spot for nearsightness. Maybe it is that if pupils are outside they focus far away when looking up, rather than sun light?

I think (weakly) the nearsightedness issue is indeed from not exercising focusing rather than sunlight. But apparently there is an issue where mothers with low vitamin D in Scandinavia (especially immigrants from sunnier places) are more likely to have autistic children.

Anecdote, I started fidgeting by varying eye focus and depth - can't get forced to sit still if your fidgeting is barely perceptible - at a very young age and have the best range of accomodation of anyone I know. Can also easily perceive chromatic aberration/my eyes needing a different focus setting for different wavelengths.

I'd love to know if some sort of focus training exercises for eyes starting as children would help everyone.

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#298

Post by TedDoesntTalk » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 4:00 PM UTC

ayewo wrote: post #110

simonh wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It very much depends on the relationship you have with your kids. Respect and trust are really important. However beyond that IMHO frankly it's critical safety imperative that children do what their parents tell them when it matters. If you're in the street near traffic a child disregarding parental instructions is a life and death issue. There are other safety critical situations too. This is why I feel it's vital t…

With respect to building respect and trust with young kids, this video might be useful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHvm1J9HVLo

Dr. Paul Jenkins is great!

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#299

Post by InvaderFizz » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 4:02 PM UTC

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #5

nilsbunger wrote: post #2

I didn’t realize the evidence is strong that daylight keeps kids from becoming near-sighted. Making young kids study all the time is killing their eyesight!

I sometimes wonder if UV protective glasses block some possible benefit of UV light to eyes.

I'm not sure there are any known benefits that outweigh the costs of UV exposure.

That said, there is emerging research that the lack of NIR light is very detrimental to all kinds of health conditions[0].

Over the past two years, I've moved to ensuring that I get plenty of indirect sunlight. As NIR can go through most clothing and foliage produced shade, it's quite pleasant and relaxing to spend time in it.

I also have large concerns with the move to thermal insulation efficiency that we now have. Indoor Air and quite easily become stagnant due to lack of outdoor exchange and the the low-emissivity glass used in high end windows block most NIR. Couple that with a lack of NIR emitters (incandescent is gone, camp fires are gone), and I think we are in for a world of hurt, even more so than today.

Indoor Air quality can be mostly solved with use of ERVs to cycle the air with minimal energy loss.

I'm not sure how you solve for low-emissivity glass other than not using it and designing your structure to limit direct sunlight exposure for the window itself and use shade/curtains/blinds for thermal control when needed.

0: https://doi.org/10.32794/mr11250016

Re: Shortsightedness has become an epidemic

#300

Post by rootusrootus » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 4:03 PM UTC

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 that's bothered me. I'm glad my distance vision is great, but the loss of close-up focus is massively inconvenient. Reading glasses make me want to throw up within a matter of minutes. Not sure what my long term plan is aside from suffer.