If you wait 34 years there will be a large increase of glasses needed ...............

[Chris Ryser]

Did you know that ?????????????????????

News
According to a study, half the world will be myopic by 2050
​February 25, 2016

Half the world's population will be short-sighted (myopic) by 2050, with up to 1 billion people at a significantly increased risk of blindness if current trends continue. It’s a major public health issue that will require global attention on eye care prevention and treatment to prevent people becoming highly myopic in the future.

This rapid increase in the prevalence of myopia globally is one of the findings of a research paper recently published by the Brien Holden Vision Institute. The study highlighted a dramatic rise in the number of vision loss from high myopia that increases the risks of serious eye conditions, many of which may lead to permanent blindness.

The authors of the study from Brien Holden Vision Institute, at the University of New South Wales Australia and Singapore Eye Research Institute say that this increase of myopia globally can be attributed to“environmental factors, principally lifestyle changes resulting from a combination of decreased time outdoors and increased near work activities.” This has important implications for planning comprehensive eye care services.

This rapid increase in the prevalence of myopia globally is one of the findings of a research paper recently published by the Brien Holden Vision Institute. The study highlighted a dramatic rise in the number of vision loss from high myopia that increases the risks of serious eye conditions, many of which may lead to permanent blindness.

The authors of the study from Brien Holden Vision Institute, at the University of New South Wales Australia and Singapore Eye Research Institute say that this increase of myopia globally can be attributed to“environmental factors, principally lifestyle changes resulting from a combination of decreased time outdoors and increased near work activities.” This has important implications for planning comprehensive eye care services.

Read all of it: ================>
http://www.essilor.com/en/Press/Late...ages/home.aspx

[chaoticneutral]

Those are interesting and scary numbers. but what about this? http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/oc...0-20-1.3078257

[fjpod]

Those are interesting and scary numbers. but what about this? http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/oc...0-20-1.3078257

I don't mean to disparage, but I hate these vague consumer news releases that never make anything clear. They are written for consumers as if the were big news. They are just meant to be promotional for the people and companies that have a financial stake in a product like this. ... As in they are trying to get you to buy their stock.

I suppose they are talking about phakic implants (not aphakic). They incorrectly imply that even if you have 20/20, you can see 3 times better. They misuse the concept of infinity. They imply that this implant also corrects presbyopia. They make it sound simple and non invasive, and that 25 year olds should sign up now for what is essentially a cataract operation so they don't have to wear glasses.

Let's not fall prey.

[fjpod]

I've read one or two of these reports about the "increasing prevalence" of myopia. Of course, I can only report anecdotally, but I haven't seen it in my exam chair. Of course, my practice doesn't necessarily reflect what is going on in the world at large.

I can tell you what I have noticed:

1. I see fewer pathological myopes than I used to see 35 years ago. They say this is attributable to better prenatal care and I tend to believe it.

2. The ratio of myopes to hyperopes seems the same to me over the years.

3. The children of immigrants, especially hyperopic immigrants, seem to develop myopia more often than seems reasonable, to me. (Donald Trump may be interested in this. ). Some of my myopic Asian patients fall into this category.

4. The issue of asians and their high rate of myopia..... I watched an old charlie chan murder mystery movie just a month or so ago, from the early 1930s. He is portrayed as a highly myopic, bespectacled detective. Artwork from the middleages shows Asians wearing spectacles. Asians have always been portrayed this way (not trying to be offensive).... Because they have always been more myopic than the rest of us. This is not a new phenomenon. Science is just getting around to validating what others have observed for centuries.

Sure, I believe there may be a few more accommodative myopes out there due to excessive near point demands. I just don't see an epidemic. People generally don't go blind from low to moderate amounts of myopia.

Oh, one more thing. ... Being a 3 diopter myope in your old age is a blessing, not a curse.

[Uilleann]

In other news: The sky is falling.

Again.

Just like yesterday.