Modern Life is Making Us Myopic
The growing epidemic of nearsightedness appears to have a simple fix… if we’re willing to look at some healthy behavioral changes
New research sheds important light on the likely culprits behind a growing epidemic of nearsightedness, called myopia, bolstering somewhat fuzzy existing evidence that excessive screen time and lack of natural daylight are messing with eons of human evolution and smushing our eyeballs into an unnatural shape.
Myopia results from an elongation of the eyeball that renders close-up objects in focus but blurs things in the distance. It isn’t just annoying. While it can be managed with specialized glasses or contact lenses, myopia raises the risk of glaucoma, macular degeneration and blindness later in life. It’s also been linked to poor sleep, though it’s not clear which condition might cause the other or if screen time is at the root of both.
Though genetics play a significant role in myopia, they don’t explain these eye-popping statistics:
- Rates in the United States have increased from 25% in 1971 to more than 40% today, with up to 80% prevalence among high-school graduates in some developed Asian nations. Severe cases are increasing, too.
- A U.K. study found the prevalence of…
