Stephen Olwell Opticians on myopia - a growing global concern

Myopia, a growing global concern

Hi, Stephen Olwell here. This month I wanted to talk about myopia and the growing number of children worldwide who are becoming myopic.

Myopia is commonly known as shortsightedness. It is a condition that affects 30% of the population at present. This has been rising steadily over the last number of years and is set to reach 50% by 2050.

What is myopia?

Myopia (or shortsightedness) is the condition where people cannot see far away objects clearly without glasses. There is a mismatch between the shape of the front of the eye and the length of the eye which means that light is not focussed correctly on the retina. It normally develops in teenagers, but over the last couple of decades, we are seeing it in younger children also.

The earlier that a child begins to develop myopia, the more likely that their myopia will progress during their teens.

Where does it come from?

Myopia comes from both nature and nurture. It is much more common in children of myopic parents, and children of Asian descent (In east Asia, myopia affects 90% of the population). It can also be caused by excessive indoor time and close work at an early age.

What’s wrong with being shortsighted?

Simple shortsightedness causes problems with driving and watching TV which are simple annoyances, and can be corrected by glasses or contact lenses. However, progressive or pathological myopia can lead to more serious problems as an adult. These include an increased risk of glaucoma, retinal detachments and myopic maculopathy which can lead to blindness.

What can we do about it?

First, we want to prevent it. 90 minutes of outdoor play per day (where possible) is protective for children who are not already myopic. Also close-up screen time should be limited to 90 minutes per day. High risk children (myopic parents, Asian descent, fans of the indoors) should have their eyes tested early and often.

If we can’t prevent it, then we will try to slow it down.

If the eye test shows that a child is myopic, we can slow the progression of myopia in a number of ways, correcting their vision using either specialist glasses lenses, specialist contact lenses or orthokeratology (overnight vision correction).

I will talk about these options in more detail in next month’s article.

For now, if you feel that your child is at risk of becoming myopic, or is already myopic, then you can contact your optician who will guide you to the best way of preventing or controlling it.

Stephen Olwell FAOI

10 Grafton Court

Longford, Co Longford

T:: 043 33 42653

E: info@longfordopticians.com

W: https://stephenolwellopticians.com/

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