What People Don’t Know About Nearsightedness

When you tune into the news either online or on TV, you’re likely to hear about is how obesity is sweeping the nation. These health issues are concerning; obesity is a leading cause of mortality and disability. But what you don’t hear about is another epidemic that’s threatening the sight of billions worldwide.

Myopia is a worldwide health crisis

Nearsightedness, also called myopia, is a type of refractive error where the eyeball is too long relative to the light-focusing power of the cornea or the lens. The result is that light focuses at a point in front of the retina instead of directly on its surface, making distant objects blurry.

Until recently, the enormity of the myopia epidemic has gone under the radar even though cases have increased 66% since 1971. In the US, over 40% of children aged between 5-19 are nearsighted. There are 10 million American children whose academic performance is being affected by vision problems, and yet 7.5 million of them remain untreated.

In China, more than 90% of teenagers and young adults are nearsighted, up from 20% in the 1960s. If this trend continues, 50% of the world population will become nearsighted by 2050. That’s 4.9 billion people who can’t see each other from across the table without glasses.

Myopia is more than just an inconvenience

Myopia is often trivialized as an inconvenience. But myopia is not a trivial subject.

Children who develop myopia at a younger age are more likely to develop pathologic myopia (an eye disease caused by myopia) as the eyeball continues to grow and stretch into their twenties.

Children whose myopia exceeds -5.00D are at significant risk for developing these vision problems in adulthood:

• Retinal detachment: 21.5X risk
• Myopic macular degeneration: 40X risk8
• Premature cataracts: 5.5X risk8
• Glaucoma: 14.6X risk8

But even uncorrected moderate myopia comes with an increased risk for these vision problems.

Light matters

Scientists have known for a while that exposure to natural light delayed the onset of myopia and even down regulated genetic risk for myopia by a third. What wasn’t clear, though, was whether or not outdoor light exposure could also slow myopia progression in already-nearsighted children.

The ROAM study published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science found that children who had little outdoor light exposure had a -0.3D increase in myopia after 18 months. On the other hand, children who had at least 90 minutes of daily light exposure had -0.4D decrease in myopia progression.

It comes as no surprise, too, that myopia progression tends to be 60% slower in the summer. This gives parents a good reason to encourage their kids to play outside, climb trees, walk the dog, bike with their friends or do what kids did before there were tablets.

Paragon CRT® in the Frontlines

Paragon CRT® was the first orthokeratology (Ortho-K) contact lens to be FDA approved for overnight wear. It gently reshapes the cornea while you sleep so you can go about your day and enjoy an active lifestyle with no worries about dropping, breaking, and losing your glasses or daytime contacts. If you or your child have myopia, Paragon CRT® may be the solution for clear vision and a continued active lifestyle.

Paragon CRT® overnight contacts have a high 97% satisfaction rating and are worn by patients worldwide. These specialty lenses can only be prescribed by a Paragon CRT® certified eye doctor. If you or a family member is ready to live life free of glasses or daytime contacts, you can find a certified doctor here.

Rahul is a renowned author and social media enthusiast.