To prevent or reduce myopia, scientists recommend spending more time outdoors looking into the distance // Photo: bettervisionguide.com
The prevalence of myopia in the 21st century has often been attributed to increased time spent in front of television screens, personal computers, and then smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Despite the logicality of this viewpoint, it raised a lot of questions in the scientific community.
Addressing the problem from the “wrong end”
A new study, the results of which are published on the authoritative resource “Cell Reports”, allows us to testify that previous approaches to solving the problem were “from the wrong end”. Before the significant increase in screen time, about a quarter of the world’s population was diagnosed with myopia (nearsightedness). Now the share of these people is about a third of the world’s population, and there is no direct correlation between the two phenomena.
The authors of the study argued in favor of the fact that the relationship is indirect. The appearance of myopia is promoted not so much by staying behind devices that emit artificial light, but by a significant reduction in the time people spend in natural light.
Daylight reduces the risk of myopia
Previously, many reputable publications, including the British journal “Nature”, published scientific papers in which scientists stated about the stimulating effect of ultraviolet light on human vision. It was stated that the chances of becoming nearsighted increase in the case of reducing the time spent outdoors in daylight. Children, whose eyesight reacts more acutely to lack of sunlight, are particularly susceptible.
In the new work, a group of scientists went further and studied the issue in more depth. In their opinion, the development of myopia contributes to the development of myopia contributes to prolonged eye strain in conditions of low light, typical of living and working rooms. In the street, the pupil is narrowed on the one hand to avoid excessively strong light, but on the other hand, it allows the eye retina to receive enough light to fully perceive reality.
A significant role in this plays not brightness, but the need to obtain a high-precision image of the object at close range. While on the street lighting is measured in hundreds of watts per square meter, indoors this value rarely exceeds hundreds of watts, or even much less. This leads to a significant contradiction – the pupil is narrowed and the amount of light reaching the retina is far below the amount the eye needs to function properly.
Myopia can be halted and even prevented
Scientists suggest that myopia can be halted and even prevented by exposing the eye to safe levels of bright light under conditions that make it difficult for the pupil to constrict. The latter appears to be an extremely difficult phenomenon, as the human pupil shrinks on its own in natural light conditions.
The authors of the scientific work suggest doing this either with the help of multifocal lenses, or blocking the work of the muscles responsible for constriction of the pupil. This can be done with atropine drops, but before using this advice, it is necessary to consult your doctor.
A simpler method, which does not require additional means, involves increasing the time of being outdoors, under the influence of sunlight and ultraviolet light. In this case, it is highly desirable to look more into the distance. This should be done regularly, which seems to be an impossible task in today’s high-intensity life.
Multifocal lenses and those that reduce contrast can work more reliably, blocking the progression of myopia in both adults and children. But the choice of means is left to the individual in an environment where natural light in modern life is much less than it was 30 years ago.
