screen staring

• Myopia affects half of young adults in the US, twice as many as 50 years ago and over 40% of the population
• Constant screen time


  Radically changing our eyes
• When our eyes spend more time focusing on near objects, like phones, screens or even paperbacks, it makes our eyeballs elongate, which prevents the eye from bending light the way it should
• This elongation increases nearsightedness, called myopia, which causes distant objects to appear blurred
• When many of us began working from home and e-learning last year

  Researchers predicted this dramatic online increase would cause never-before-seen eye dysfunction
• Chinese researchers tested over 120,000 Covid-quarantined students aged six to eight and found myopia and other vision issues linked to home confinement increased up to three times compared with the previous five years
• Many American kids spend most of their days online
• Prolonged near work


  Looking at screens up close
• Prolonged near work makes our eyes overcompensate
• The longer the axial length, the higher the risk of eye diseases like glaucoma, retinal detachment and cataracts
• The nearsighted have much higher chances of retina tears and glaucoma, bigger issues secondary to nearsightedness
• Myopic eye


  The eye is longer, like a grape or olive. The retina can get stretched and thinned, leading to retinal detachment and blindness
• Poor eyes can lead to decreased work efficiency and huge loss of productivity
• China has already changed their education system, limiting how long students study - even extra tutoring - to curb the near-work that heightens myopia
• Aleena Joyce's screen time tripled in the last 18 months, with many school days - and two-thirds of Aleena's waking hours - held almost entirely on her iPad
• The parents of Alan Kim, the child actor and nine-year-old Minari star, said their son's prescription doubled in the last year in part due to the near work of on-set studies held on his iPad
• FDA-approved contact lenses


  Effectively reshape the eye to slow down myopia
• Increased sunlight decreases myopia progression
• Amblyopia is the most common cause of monocular vision loss
• Strabismus is when one eye turns inwards/outwards
• Amblyopia can be caused by strabismus, anisometropia or form deprivation (cataract)