Almost 10 Million Americans Are 'Severely' Myopic

"A new study estimates that 9.6 million adults in the United States are highly myopic, or severely nearsighted," according to a post on Medical News Today. "Of those, nearly 820,000 have a degenerative form of the disease and more than 41,000 suffer a complication called myopic choroidal neovascularization that could cause long-term vision loss, with women at higher risk. The findings are being published online in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. This is the first large-scale study ever done to calculate the real-world prevalence of myopic choroidal neovascularization in the United States." Read more.

Visual Impairment Skyrockets as Boomers Age

"With the youngest of the baby boomers hitting 65 by 2029, the number of people with visual impairment or blindness in the United States is expected to double to more than 8 million by 2050, according to projections based on the most recent census data and from studies funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. Another 16.4 million Americans are expected to have difficulty seeing due to correctable refractive errors such as myopia (nearsightedness) or hyperopia (farsightedness) that can be fixed with glasses, contacts or surgery." That's the start of a press release from NEI. Approximately, "1 million Americans were legally blind (20/200 vision or worse) in 2015. Having 20/200 vision means that for clear vision, you would have to be 20 feet or closer to an object that a person with normal vision could see from 200 feet away. Meanwhile, 3.2 million Americans had visual impairment in 2015—meaning they had 20/40 or worse vision with best possible correction. Another 8.2 million had vision problems due to uncorrected refractive error."

 The researchers were led by Rohit Varma, M.D., director of the University of Southern California’s Roski Eye Institute, Los Angeles, led the researchers, and JAMA Ophthalmology published the results just this week (May 19th).
Read more.

New Insights into the Causes of Myopia

"Myopia, also known as short-sightedness or near-sightedness, is the most common disorder affecting the eyesight and it is on the increase," reports Science Digest. "The causes are both genetic and environmental. The Consortium for Refractive Error and Myopia (CREAM) has now made important progress towards understanding the mechanisms behind the development of the condition. This international group of researchers includes scientists involved in the Gutenberg Health Study of the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The team has uncovered nine new genetic risk factors which work together with education-related behavior as the most important environmental factor causing myopia to generate the disorder." Read more.

101 Million People Have Uncorrected Refractive Error

"Uncorrected refractive error -- nearsightedness, farsightedness, and other focusing problems correctable by prescription lenses -- is responsible for moderate to severe vision impairment in 101 million people and blindness in seven million people worldwide, reports a new study." That's part of a post on Science Daily. Read more.

Myopia Affects Focusing Muscles. Impact on Intraocular Lenses?

"The presence of myopia, or nearsightedness, significantly affects the muscles used in focusing the lens of the eye--a finding with important implications for the development of 'accommodating' implanted intraocular lenses (IOLs) that can adjust to different visual distances, reports a study in the January issue of Optometry and Vision Science." That's the word from Science Digest. Read more.

Rise in Myopia Means a Boon for Eyewear Industry

"According to mounting research, myopia (nearsightedness) among the young has become a global epidemic. In the United States, myopia rates have roughly doubled over the last generation. A recent study published in JAMA reports that in China (where rates of myopia have skyrocketed to roughly 90% among urban youth), the major cause could be a lack of sun exposure. But young adults aren’t the only ones struggling to see clearly. Older adults are also looking for treatments that address their age-related vision problems. Amid rising demand, the eye care industry is poised to accelerate. It’s already developing new technologies that not only treat, but also prevent (and in some cases eliminate) vision problems," goes the post on Forbes. "With increasing demand from every age group, the $36 billion eye care industry has a bright future. The industry, which includes eye care professionals (opticians, optometrists, and ophthalmologists) and products (eye glasses, contact lenses, and corrective surgeries,) posted a steady combined annual growth rate of 3.4% from 2006 to 2012, outpacing the average growth of the economy at large (2.9%) over those years. Forecasters expect this rate to increase to 5.0% from 2014 to 2019." Read more, especially about the growth of myopia.

Atropine Eye Drops Slow Nearsightedness in Children

"Atropine .01 percent eye drops slow down nearsightedness by roughly 50 percent in five-year clinical trial on Singaporean children," reports Science Daily. "Researchers suggest low-dose drops safe as 'first line' defense against rapid development of nearsightedness in children." Read more.

Gene Variant--Not Reading--Might Be Cause of Myopia

"New research has suggested that when kids with a certain gene spend much of their time doing activities that involve close work such as reading, they are more likely to develop the condition. This finding has led the study's authors to suggest that nearsightedness is reaching epidemic proportions," says Medical News Today. "An analysis of data from around 14,000 people finds that those carrying a variant of a gene called APLP2, were five times more likely to have myopia (nearsightedness) if they had spent an hour or more reading each day when they were children. However, people who carried the gene variant but did not spend so much time reading when they were kids had no additional risk of developing myopia. The study, led by vision researchers at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, NY, is published in the journal PLOS Genetics." Read more.

Simple Eye Test for 7 Year Olds Predicts Onset of Myopia

"Researchers have found that a simple eye test in first grade could predict the onset of nearsightedness by eight grade," reports Medical News Today. "Such a test could enable parents to plan eye testing schedules and glasses, and even opens up the research opportunities into therapies that could prevent the need for glasses.A study of over 4,500 children published in JAMA Ophthalmology identified 414 who became nearsighted (had myopia, in which further distances are seen as blurry) by the time they were between 7 and 13 years of age." Read more.

Myopia on the Rise Globally

Key scientists, researchers and clinical experts discussed the increasing prevalence of myopia and its visual, social and economic impact at a joint World Health Organization and Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) meeting. Health care experts reported that myopia is the leading cause of blindness in older people in Tajimi, Japan, and in Shanghai, China. A report from BHVI estimated that 5 billion people will have myopia in 2050, with almost a billion having high myopia. Professor Brien Holden said that “vision impairment and blindness was rising in children from uncorrected myopia and in adults from the pathological consequences of myopia later in life.” The participants also investigated the potential interventions. Dr Serge Resnikoff said that “a major contribution from the meeting was the definition and description of the retinal condition that causes blindness with myopia so that future surveys can accurately record the number of people with vision impairment and blindness from myopia.”

Children from Lower-Class Families in China Have Less Myopia

In one of the largest population-based studies ever conducted on nearsightedness in children, researchers have discovered that lower-income students in China have better vision than their middle-class counterparts. Data show that nearsightedness, also called myopia, is twice as prevalent in the middle-income province of Shaanxi compared to the poorer neighboring province of Gansu. The study was published online today in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

To read the study, click here: www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(14)01196-8/abstract.Read more.

How Does Outside Activity Affect Myopia? The Question of a New Study

“Despite what many parents may think, kids who spend a lot of time reading or squinting at tiny electronic screens aren't more likely to become nearsighted than kids who don't. However, that risk is only reduced if the child spends plenty of quality time outside,” says Science Daily. “The ‘outdoor effect’ on nearsightedness, or myopia, is a longstanding observation backed by both scientific and anecdotal evidence. It's so compelling that some nations in Asia, which have among the highest myopia rates in the world, have increased the amount of daily outdoor time for children in the hopes of reducing the need for glasses…’Data suggest that a child who is genetically predisposed to myopia are three times less likely to need glasses if they spend more than 14 hours a week outdoors,’ says optometrist Donald Mutti, OD, PhD, of The Ohio State University College of Optometry. ‘But we don't really know what makes outdoor time so special. If we knew, we could change how we approach myopia.’ Supported by a pilot grant from Ohio State's Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), Mutti is now focusing his research on the variables he feels have the most potential: invisible ultraviolet B rays (UVB) and vitamin D, and visible bright light and dopamine.” Read more.

Infographic about Myopia in Children

AllAboutVision.com has expanded its website about myopia and children, adding five articles for patients and their parents along with the infographic. The company has added it to its list of free eye health infographics that eye care professionals can share with their patients.

Greater the Education, the Greater the Myopia

"New research suggests that higher levels of education and more years spent in school are linked with a greater prevalence and severity of the eye condition [myopia]. The research is published in Opthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Opthalmology." So notes Medical News Today. "Though the condition is common, the researchers - led by Dr. Alireza Mirshahi of the University Medical Center in Mainz, Germany - say nearsightedness has become even more common around the world recently, making it an increasing global health and economic worry." Read more.

New Research about the Development and Progressive of Myopia

"New research on myopia -- how it develops, risk and protective factors, and potentially effective measures for prevention and treatment are reported across twenty articles in the November issue of Optometry and Vision Science," reports Science Daily. The issue "highlights scientific discoveries leading to potentially useful approaches to prevention and treatment of progressive nearsightedness in young patients. One study states that soft contact lenses with multiple areas of focus can reduce progression of myopia (nearsightedness) in children, and that multifocal lenses also affect eye growth, with effects persisting through at least two years, according to new research reported by Jeffrey J. Walline, OD, PhD, FAAO, of The Ohio State University, Columbus." Read more.

NICE Approves Lucentis for Treatment of Myopic CNV

Medical News Today reports that "in a Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) published October 25, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that Lucentis (ranibizumab) be approved for use within the NHS in England and Wales as an option to treat people with visual impairment due to choroidal neovascularisation associated with pathological myopia (myopic CNV)6. Myopic CNV is the growth of abnormal leaky blood vessels in the back of the eye in high myopia (severe near sightedness)." Read more.

Genetic Mutation behind Myopia

“Do you wear glasses or contact lenses? Then you may have a genetic mutation. Researchers have discovered mutations in a gene that's associated with a severe form of nearsightedness. The finding could give rise to better understanding the condition and developing future treatments,” according to a post on Science World Report. “Yet a more severe form of this nearsightedness, called high-grade myopia, is what can really trouble patients. It affects up to two percent of Americans, and is especially common in Asian populations. It's caused by a combination of genetics and environmental factors, such as large amounts of reading.” Read more.

20 Genetic Associations Made for Myopia

"In the largest ever genome-wide association study on myopia, 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, identified 20 new genetic associations for myopia, or nearsightedness," according to a Medical News Today post. "The company also replicated two known associations in the study, which was specific to individuals of European ancestry." Read more.

Host of Myopia Genes Discovered

“A British-led team of scientists identified 24 genes containing information that could lead to a drug to stop many children becoming short-sighted,” reports the Mail. “Almost three years ago, the first gene that causes short-sightedness was identified by King’s College London researcher Chris Hammond. Now, leading an international team of scientists and trawling through genetic data from 45,000 people from around the world, including the UK, he has found many more. ...Working out what the genes do and what goes wrong in short-sightedness could lead to eye drops or other drugs to treat the condition.” Read more.

“These findings, published February 10 in the journal Nature Genetics, reveal genetic causes of the trait, which could lead to finding better treatments or ways of preventing the condition in the future.” That's the Science Daily version of the story. Read more.

Contact Lenses and Myopic Defocus

“Bifocal soft contact lenses and corneal reshaping lenses vary in their ability to provide myopic defocus to the peripheral retina, according to US researchers writing inOptometry and Vision Science,” reports News Medical. “Indeed, their study failed to show that bifocal soft contact lenses can provide peripheral myopic defocus, raising questions about the mechanism by which these lenses slow axial elongation of the eye. Anita Ticak (University of Houston, Texas) and Jeffrey Walline (Ohio State University, Columbus) studied 14 myopic individuals aged 8-35 years, of whom nine were female and 12 were White. The average spherical equivalent noncycloplegic manifest refraction for the right eye was -2.84 diopters.” Read more.