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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)

#51

Post by EForEndeavour »

mywacaday wrote: post #24
tluyben2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any proof/research that it is because of smartphones (screens?)? My anecdote; I have had myopia since I was 7 (I am 45 now), 1 year before my first computer. Since then I have spent most my waking life behind screens and my myopia has been getting less slowly since my first glasses. I now can see quite well without glasses which I could not do 15+ years ago. Also, I should be up for reading glasses soon, but…

Pre smartphone days(1997) but when I was in college I had to get glasses to see the whiteboard at the end of the first year spent looking at monitors and a drafting board for large periods of the day. I spent my summers lifeguarding on a beach so three months off staring hard into the distance from 10am to 7pm 6 days a week with hardly any screen time. When returning to college in September I could see the board with…

Fascinating story, and I love the implication that you were lifeguarding without glasses. I know from personal experience that bright sunlight improves visual acuity (bright images, pupil constriction, and squinting all help), so obviously you were able to do your job, but the mental image is pretty funny!

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

#52

Post by aeternum »

graeme wrote: post #45

I moved to a ground floor place, and basically get no direct light. Sort of a shock after years of a sunny place. I have some studio lights around for recording. Would these benefit the eye the way the sun does? I had considered using them while working for seasonal affective disorder. It's hard to be sure but my eyes feel a little weaker since moving in.

I had a similar situation and did notice a positive improvement after getting a super bright (5000 lumen) light. Could have been coincidence but I was pleasantly surprised when my prescription decreased in strength.

I assumed using it at night would mess up my sleep, but it didn't.

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

#53

Post by hi41 »

xedeon wrote: post #38

This is a real issue in South Korea and many other Asian countries, where it's prevalent. In these countries, having a "fair/light" skin signifies social prestige. Which is why most parents do not let their children go out to play and explore while the sun is out. This mentality is primarily rooted from imperial times, where tan skin was associated with lower-class field or farm work. I personally experienced this, g…

I see the preference to whiter skin in India as well in a very big way. There are lot of ads for creams promising to make the ladies fairer and hence be more likable by a guy. If this is not racist I don’t know what is. The darker skin you have, you are less worthy. Parents discourage the kids not to get dark by playing under the hot son. It’s sad.

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

#54

Post by littlestymaar »

epmaybe wrote: post #34
littlestymaar wrote: post #4

Related: myopia is one of the most common health problem that occurs to prisoners.

Do we know if that myopia is caused while in prison, or if it is just picked up while they are in prison. Because it would be very unusual to see myopic changes from emmetropization (eye remodeling) occurring in adults.

> Because it would be very unusual to see myopic changes from emmetropization (eye remodeling) occurring in adults.

What makes you think it's unusual?

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

#55

Post by epmaybe »

littlestymaar wrote: post #54
epmaybe wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we know if that myopia is caused while in prison, or if it is just picked up while they are in prison. Because it would be very unusual to see myopic changes from emmetropization (eye remodeling) occurring in adults.

> Because it would be very unusual to see myopic changes from emmetropization (eye remodeling) occurring in adults. What makes you think it's unusual?

So some background information is necessary to get everyone on the same page. The optics of the eye are such that the lens and cornea focus light onto the back of the eye, the retina. That focusing power can be inadequate or overpowered depending on the axial length of the eye. You can imagine that you would need a diverging lens to help focus light better in a longer (myopic, or near-sighted) eye, and a converging light to help focus light better in a shorter (hyperopic, or far-sighted) eye.

We know from several large scale studies that eye reaches its maximum axial length by around age 13, and while the eye gets ever so slightly shorter (hyperopic, rather than myopic) as you age, it's far outweighed by the effects of presbyopia, whereby the lens of your eye becomes less elastic with age, and thus is unable to focus up close. In effect, it makes you more farsighted, and why people with myopia feel that their vision somewhat improves with age.

Sources (with references to the large scale studies, which unfortunately I cannot currently access): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4347057/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3843406/

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

#56

Post by taneq »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #44
taneq wrote: post #20

"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.

This article specifically says the near work hypothesis does not fit the data.

I'm not talking about the near-work hypothesis (ie. "too much close work causes myopia"), but the related idea that "not enough far work causes myopia."

And this perfectly fits the article's findings.

Anecdotally, a few of my friends are into sailing, in a 'crewing a large sailing ship' sense, and apparently some have seen noticeable improvements to their myopia after being out at sea for a couple of weeks and spending a lot of time staring at the horizon.

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

#57

Post by mywacaday »

EForEndeavour wrote: post #51
mywacaday wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pre smartphone days(1997) but when I was in college I had to get glasses to see the whiteboard at the end of the first year spent looking at monitors and a drafting board for large periods of the day. I spent my summers lifeguarding on a beach so three months off staring hard into the distance from 10am to 7pm 6 days a week with hardly any screen time. When returning to college in September I could see the board with…

Fascinating story, and I love the implication that you were lifeguarding without glasses. I know from personal experience that bright sunlight improves visual acuity (bright images, pupil constriction, and squinting all help), so obviously you were able to do your job, but the mental image is pretty funny!

I actually never though of that and had a good laugh reading your comment. I had to pass a medical with an eye test for the job so I presume I was safe. Eyesight is a complicated thing, I have one eye much worse than the other, can read the monitor fine with my right eye and not at all with my left eye. I can use a monitor OK for an hour or two with no glasses but after that I get a headache. My right eye defiantly compensates for my left.

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

#58

Post by fghkbvj »

thrav wrote: post #29
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 have a hard time believing that’s better than seeing both with absolute clarity, which is certainly possible.

If you are young and able to focus anywhere, then I guess that's better.

But possibly there is myopia and presbyopia (age related farsightedness) interaction.

"Many people with near-sightedness can read comfortably without eyeglasses or contact lenses even after age forty."

"Presbyopia is the result of age-related hardening of the natural lens. Everybody has this happen and it gets bad enough we can’t ignore the resulting near vision problem by about age 45. The one good thing about being near-sighted is that the large eyeball means the default focal point of the myopic Eye is up close, depending on how nearsighted you are. So if myopic, without glasses you can see up close without needing to work at it."

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

#59

Post by [deleted] »

lm28469 wrote: post #19
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 ?

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