

Global upsurge in nearsightedness is perplexing - edw519
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-myopia15-2009dec15,0,6467519.story

======
shaddi
Something I heard years ago was that people who live in cities are more prone
to be nearsighted because their eyes never focus on objects far away.

Because of this, among other reasons, I always try to make sure that my
computer is positioned in front of or next to a window, since it encourages me
to change my eye focus to a far away object.

Maybe it's this practice, and maybe (most likely) I'm just blessed with good
vision like my mother, but despite the hours and hours I've spent in front of
a computer since I was a kid my vision is still 20/20.

~~~
inerte
How old are you?

Next month I'm turning 30 years old and a couple weeks ago I was diagnosed
with myopia. 0.25 of it, and 0.50 of astigmatism.

The doctor said that I should only wear glasses when on the computer, and I
thought "shit... the whole day then".

~~~
shaddi
This is a good point -- I'm several years your younger, so I guess I have
plenty of time time ruin my vision between now and then. :)

That said, in my family vision seems to either go early or stay with you
forever. My brother has been wearing glasses since he was about 8. My mom wore
glasses for a while back in the 80's when she was working as a secretary (I
think? Something that put her in front of a computer all day...), but after
she left that job her vision quickly restored back to 20/20. Now, as she's
getting older, she sometimes needs reading glasses, but I think that's more a
function of age than anything else.

------
jsdalton
Why the editorializing in the headline? The article itself makes no mention of
the phenomenon being "perplexing." In fact it identifies a likely (and fairly
obvious) cause -- increased computer usage -- right there in the subtitle:

> A study finds that 17% more Americans have myopia than 30 years ago. Close-
> up computer work could be a reason.

~~~
tokenadult
I just did a Google search on the submitted title. When did the title change
occur? When a link to this article was submitted to another social linking
site? Or right here on HN? I'm perplexed at how an L.A. times article that has
the same title in a heading at the beginning of the article and in the HTML
title element for the article can get a title change to what was submitted
here, but I know the New York Times sometimes has link titles to its own
articles from its own front page that don't match the article title, and for
all I know this article did too in the original newspaper.

------
machrider
I read the headline completely wrong (metaphorical nearsightedness) and
expected an article about why everyone is taking actions that hurt them in the
long term...

------
jimmybot
I'm nearsighted and every eye doctor I've had while I was growing up said it's
just genetic, and there's nothing you can do about it even though none of my
grandparents were nearsighted.

But more to the point--there's probably nowhere near the proper amount of
research money being spent on preventing myopia or preventing the seriousness
of it because there's no money to be made in it. What is the eye doctor going
to charge you if you don't need new glasses?

------
hxa7241
There is a better article on this at:
[http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427331.100-generatio...](http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427331.100-generation-
specs-stopping-the-shortsight-epidemic.html?full=true)

Research discussed there suggests that what appears in peripheral vision may
be important. That may also explain why myopia gradually gets worse during
years of wearing glasses.

------
davi
better article:
[http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427331.100-generatio...](http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427331.100-generation-
specs-stopping-the-shortsight-epidemic.html?full=true)

discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=929524>

------
bioweek
Do you guys think a new cure for this will be invented in the next five or ten
years? I can't afford lasik, and after reading all of the things that can go
wrong, I'm not even sure if I would want it.

Any chance there will be some new, inexpensive technology invented soon? Or
maybe everyone will start wearing glasses for augmented reality anyway so it
won't matter.

~~~
brown9-2
Is Lasik a "cure" or just a way to correct around the underlying problems?

~~~
johngunderman
Lasik isn't really a cure. It simply changes the curvature of your eye so that
you can focus on distance better. However, it actually makes you less able to
focus on close items, so it's a trade-off.

~~~
gaius
And, at least when I looked into it, it reduces your night vision.

------
bioweek
Here's a potential solution. Computer monitors that appear to be say 500 ft
away, but take up the equivalent field of view as your current monitor.

I.E., it would appear you screen were being projected onto the side of a
mountain, but as a visual illusion (not really projecting a 1000 ft screen).

Is that possible? How might it work, holograms?

~~~
sp332
A couple of lenses should do the trick.

------
davidw
Everyone I know in Italy has glasses. I've always wondered why that was.

