Doctors see increase in cases of nearsightedness in young people
Are you not seeing as clearly as you once did? Doctors said they are seeing a surge in people who need glasses, many of them at a very young age.
Boston News 25 delved into what optometrists say is a nearsighted epidemic and what families can do to stay ahead of it.
While anyone can develop myopia, also known as nearsightedness, certain factors can make it more likely. Those include high levels of near work, such as starting at a computer screen, or having parents with the condition.
Madison Timmons said she first noticed something different about her vision in the 5th grade.
“Usually, I could see properly. When I’m in the back of a class, I cannot see, like, anything. It was all blurry everywhere,” Timmons explained.
Timmons’ mother, Patricia Timmons, said she noticed her daughter was struggling to read signs at the grocery store or play defense in soccer.
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“The ball was going to the left, she was going to the right. Like she just couldn’t see the ball,” Patricia Timmons said.
Madison Timmons told Boston 25 News that it felt like the ball was going past her in a blur and she was later diagnosed with myopia.
“Myopia is when the eye is elongated, meaning that light rays are hitting in front of the retina,” Optometrist Ben Lickteig said. Lickteig said the result is nearsightedness, which makes distant things look blurry.
“It has definitely been on the rise as far as younger and younger patients develop it,” Lickteig continued.
In fact, many vision experts said were are in the middle of a myopia epidemic, with about 30% of the world’s population currently affected.
Some studies predict things will get worse, with possibly half of the world’s population developing myopia by 2050 and 10% suffering from a severe form known as high myopia.
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Lickteig said the age of onset seems to be changing.
“Now we’re seeing patients as young as four, five or six who are coming in for the first time developing myopia” Lickteig explained.
He said that gives the condition more time to progress.
“When somebody has significant or severe myopia it can actually damage the eye. They can develop cataracts, glaucoma, and retinal detachments,” Lickteig said.
If you have been diagnosed with myopia as a child, its progression can be slowed with special FDA-approved contact lenses.
Experts recommend all children get comprehensive eye exams before they enter preschool.
VIDEO: Why are more children being diagnosed as nearsighted?
