If you have to squint to recognize that person waving at you from down the street, you’re not alone—not only that, but your numbers are growing every day. According to a recent research study funded by the National Center for Health Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Eye Institute, the presence of myopia, or nearsightedness, has significantly increased over the past 30 years.
How significantly?
The data shows that the incidence of myopia in Americans ages 12 to 54 is up from 25 percent in the 1970s to 41 percent this decade. That’s an increase of 66 PERCENT!
What is nearsightedness?
If you are part of the nearsighted nation, your eyes focus incorrectly, making distant objects appear blurred. As a result, someone with myopia tends to squint when viewing faraway objects. This gesture is the basis of the word “myopia,” which comes from two Greek words: myein, meaning “shut,” and ops, meaning “eye.”
What causes nearsightedness?
In the past, if you asked your doctor or ophthalmologist what caused nearsightedness, almost certainly he or she would’ve responded, “Genetics.” While it’s true that nearsightedness runs in families, this recent study — covered by everyone from Good Morning America to the New York Times — seems to suggest that environmental factors play a significant cause.
When interviewing Dr. Richard Besser, senior health and medical editor for ABC News, Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos pointed out that last year alone, there were 110 BILLION text messages sent, double the amount of the previous year. The dates of the study correspond almost perfectly with the rise in near-point stress in American life, as we spend more and more of our time surfing the Web, texting on cell phones, watching TV, and playing video games. As the Times put it, “Higher levels of education are often associated with nearsightedness, and people are more likely to have jobs that involve focusing on nearby objects, believed to be a leading cause of the condition.”
A dramatic effect on children
While the rise in nearsightedness is certainly alarming for the nation as a whole, it is even more so in the case of children. Prevent Blindness America says, “Since so much of a child’s learning is done visually, healthy vision is critical to success in the classroom.” The problem is that, although the CDC estimates there are 12.1 million American school-age children with vision problems, only one in three receives eye care before the age of 6. Dr. Roy Chuck, chairman of ophthalmology at Montefoire Medical Center in New York, notes that “nearsighted work can really affect the development of young eyes. If that is exclusively the kind of work that you are doing, it is equally important to be outside playing, stimulating your far vision.”
The National Eye Institute plans to dedicate $10 million dollars to future studies, in order to figure out what caused the rise in myopia. But in the meantime, we here at Rebuild Your Vision will be getting regular eye exams, for ourselves and our children; following our solid program of eye exercises ; eating a nutritious diet and supplementing with the Ocu-Plus Formula; and trading the cell phone, computer, and TV, at least once in a while, for a romp in the great outdoors with our families.
Technorati
If you have to squint to recognize that person waving at you from down the street, you’re not alone—not only that, but your numbers are growing every day. According to a recent research study funded by the National Center for Health Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Eye Institute, the presence of myopia, or nearsightedness, has significantly increased over the past 30 years.
How significantly?
The data shows that the incidence of myopia in Americans ages 12 to 54 is up from 25 percent in the 1970s to 41 percent this decade. That’s an increase of 66 PERCENT!
What is nearsightedness?
If you are part of the nearsighted nation, your eyes focus incorrectly, making distant objects appear blurred. As a result, someone with myopia tends to squint when viewing faraway objects. This gesture is the basis of the word “myopia,” which comes from two Greek words: myein, meaning “shut,” and ops, meaning “eye.”
What causes nearsightedness?
In the past, if you asked your doctor or ophthalmologist what caused nearsightedness, almost certainly he or she would’ve responded, “Genetics.” While it’s true that nearsightedness runs in families, this recent study — covered by everyone from Good Morning America to the New York Times — seems to suggest that environmental factors play a significant cause.
A dramatic effect on children
While the rise in nearsightedness is certainly alarming for the nation as a whole, it is even more so in the case of children. Prevent Blindness America says, “Since so much of a child’s learning is done visually, healthy vision is critical to success in the classroom.” The problem is that, although the CDC estimates there are 12.1 million American school-age children with vision problems, only one in three receives eye care before the age of 6. Dr. Roy Chuck, chairman of ophthalmology at Montefoire Medical Center in New York, notes that “nearsighted work can really affect the development of young eyes. If that is exclusively the kind of work that you are doing, it is equally important to be outside playing, stimulating your far vision.”
The National Eye Institute plans to dedicate $10 million dollars to future studies, in order to figure out what caused the rise in myopia. But in the meantime, we here at Rebuild Your Vision will be getting regular eye exams, for ourselves and our children; following our solid program of eye exercises ; eating a nutritious diet and supplementing with the Ocu-Plus Formula; and trading the cell phone, computer, and TV, at least once in a while, for a romp in the great outdoors with our families.
Technorati