Why do we become myopic?

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is one of the most common eye disorders.

If such an eye disorder is diagnosed, most of the explanations are to attribute the problem to genes and overreading. But recent research shows that these assumptions are wrong.

Different environmental factors can also cause eye disorder. It may be possible to save our children from this problem by taking some simple precautions.

Myopia is quite common; In Europe and the USA, 30-40 percent of the population wear glasses. In some Asian countries, this rate reaches 90 percent. If myopia is hereditary, that is, caused by genes, how could such a disadvantageous trait come from thousands of years ago to the present?

Status of the Eskimos

Developments regarding the situation of the Inuit in Canada should have cleared up this problem 50 years ago. While almost no nearsightedness is seen in the old generation Eskimos, today's children use glasses between 10 and 25 percent. Experts say that if myopia is genetic, such a situation will never be possible. It is more likely that over time these eye disorders were caused by the Inuit's abandonment of their old way of life and their shift to a more Western style. Some experts say that genes may be partially determining, but the main reason is due to environmental factors, myopia is an industrial disease.

Although the connection between reading and myopia was thought to be a strong possibility at first, it was seen that there was no such connection as the researches on the subject intensified.

Influence of The Sun

Another possibility that is being discussed these days is the relationship between the time spent indoors and myopia. Many studies in Europe, Australia and Asia have found that people who spend more time outdoors are much less likely to be nearsighted than those who spend time indoors. Although the reason for this is not known for sure, it is based on the fact that sunlight feeds the eyes.

In an experiment conducted on students in Australia, the effect of being physically active was also measured, but the connection could not be established. But it was concluded that the time spent outside in daylight was decisive. The more exposure to daylight, the lower the risk of eye disorders.

It is known that the sun triggers the production of vitamin D in the body and this vitamin is effective in strengthening the immune system and brain functions. Vitamin D may also be effective in eye health.

Another explanation is that the sun directly stimulates the secretion of dopamine in the eye. Myopia causes the lens to have trouble focusing the image on the retina due to the overgrowth of the eyeball. Dopamine is believed to keep the eye healthy by limiting this growth.

Natural Light, Artificial Light

Another explanation raises the issue of the colors contained in natural light and artificial light and focusing the image in different places on the retina. This inconsistency may cause confusion in the control mechanism of the eye. In other words, it may be conveying the message that the eye is not focused at the most suitable point and that it needs to grow to eliminate this situation. In a study conducted at a university in Australia, it was seen that the risk of myopia was much higher in chickens raised in artificial light containing more red than in environments with more intense blue and green color.

Some experts attribute the problem to the crowd of objects in our visual field. It is stated that indoors, the eye may have trouble focusing on objects at different distances, while outside, this problem disappears and the development of the eye is healthier thanks to the wider viewing distance.

These discussions are not only of academic importance, but also contain therapeutic tips. For example, the use of lamps that emit blue light is discussed in myopic children to prevent the progression of the problem or even to reverse the damage. It was observed that the damage caused by red light in myopic chickens was repaired by being exposed to blue light for several hours a day.

Eye drop

One of the treatments for myopia focuses on eye drops called atropine. This drop is known to slow down the problem of eyeball enlargement that causes myopia. However, these trials were interrupted due to some side effects of the drops. However, when it was seen that the drops were effective when even one percent of the amount used before was used, it was thought that these side effects would be minimized, and the studies on the drops were restarted.

The best thing to do today seems to be to keep wearing glasses or contact lenses and to encourage kids to spend more time outside.