A Third of the World’s Population Is Nearsighted

According to the World Health Organization, short-sightedness or myopia is a problem of vision present in one third of the world’s population…

Myopia in adults usually occurs between 20th and 40th year of life. Myopia is more common in some families, and in such cases frequently appears in childhood. Nearsighted people do not see a clear image in the distance but have to strain, squint,which often causes headaches or nausea. Myopia is corrected by wearing glasses, contact lenses, or in some cases surgically.

Myopia occurs when the eyeball is too long, or when the optical media through which light passes are too curved. It creates the image in front of the eyeball which patient perceives as blurry or fuzzy image of an object. For nearsighted people everything which is close is clear for their sight (reading, sewing) but they cannot see clearly what is in the distance. The lens for the correction of myopia has a negative sign (-) and can be identified by the fact that is thinner in its central part. Vision problems usually stabilize when the growth of the diopter stops. In rare cases, myopia does not stop growing, but is constantly getting worse. Growth and elongation of the eyeball may in such cases result in severe and progressive loss of vision because there is an expansion and deterioration of the retina.
The progression of such short-sightedness, unfortunately, is not possible to predict or stop, but by regular monitoring of patients with this problem it is possible to significantly reduce the number of complications.

Taken from: www.ghetaldus.hr