Myopia prevention and control

Regular readers will recall my passion for minimising the effects of myopia in children and adults.

Myopia (short sightedness) develops when the eye grows larger than normal or when one of the optical components inside the eye becomes too strong optically.

Both result in light focussing in the wrong place and everything becoming very blurred for the sufferer.

Traditionally, treatment was by wearing glasses or contact lenses to bring everything back into sharp focus on the retina.

Before the introduction of smartphones and personal computers about 16 per cent of the population were myopic. Today up to 40 per cent of Caucasians and up to 90 per cent of Chinese children are myopic.

It’s become so bad the World Health Organisation has declared an epidemic of myopia and massive amounts of research is being undertaken to minimise the development of myopia.

It is now some 20-plus years since I started attempting to control myopic development in children. Those early attempts had limited success. Today our knowledge base has grown massively and myopia control is now based on a combination of specially designed contact lenses, control of the working environment and ensuring our eyes are functioning well together.

Using the appropriate techniques it is now possible to limit myopic development by around 80 per cent in most cases.

Last week the front page of the Scottish Daily Mail was devoted to how our youngsters are rapidly becoming myopic. The UKbased ‘experts’ featured all talked about excessive use of smartphones and recommended children should be outside playing in sunlight. They were partially correct but there is much more to myopia control than simply limiting time spent on smartphones.

When you next have your child’s vision checked by your optician and you are told they need stronger glasses because their myopia has increased ask what can be done to limit your child’s myopia. John Wallace BSc (Hons), FCOptom, DipCLP Wallace Optometrists The West Highland Orthokeratology Clinic 11/12 Argyll Square, Oban Tel: 0845 230 3937 (EYES) www.wallaceoptometrists. co.uk