Myopia

Normal vision for a achromatopsic colour-blind person. Courtesy NIH National Eye Institute

The same view when achromatopsic and myopic.

Myopia, also known as nearsightedness or short-sightedness, is a refractive defect where the person affected usually can see nearby objects clearly but distant objects appear blurred. About one quarter of the adult population in the United States has myopia. Myopia is measured in diopters, which is the combined power of the cornea and the lens needed to focus distant images correctly on the retina. Myopia of 6.00 diopters or greater is considered high, or severe, myopia. People with high myopia are at greater risk of more acute eye problems such as retinal detachment or glaucoma. They are also more likely to experience floaters.

The most widely held theory of the cause of myopia is that it is mainly hereditary. Under this theory, the eye is slightly elongated front to back,causing images to be focused in front of the retina rather than directly on it. It is usually discovered during the pre-teen years between eight and twelve years of age. It most often worsens gradually as the eye grows during adolescence and then levels off as a person reaches adulthood.

Mainstream ophthalmologists most commonly correct myopia through the use of corrective lenses, such as spectacles or contact lenses. It may also be corrected by refractive surgery, such as LASIK. The corrective lenses have a negative dioptric value (i.e. are concave) which compensates for the excessive positive diopters of the myopic eye.

Another theory is that myopia is caused by a weakening of the ciliary muscle which controls the eye's lens. The weak muscle is unable to adjust the lens enough to see far distances, causing far-off things to be blurred. This theory states that the muscle's weakness is usually caused by doing lots of "nearwork", like reading books or using a computer screen. Since the eye rarely has to focus on far distances, the muscle is rarely used and, as a result, becomes weak. Proponents of this theory suggest that corrective lenses do the ciliary muscle's work for it, making it even weaker, and that myopia can be cured through a variety of eye exercises.

One 2002 study suggested that it may be caused by over-consumption of bread in childhood.

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