Spectacles do more harm than good
Posted January 17th, 2015, 11:30 AM IST
A study of myopia prevalence recently in rural Mahbubnagar and urban Delhi found a much higher prevalence of myopia in Delhi because the children hardly spent time outdoors. “In Mahbubnagar it was quite low but in Delhi the prevalence was high. We looked at all the factors that could be driving this difference and found ‘near-eye work’ to be the factor that made a big difference,” said ophthalmic scientist Dr Srinivas Marmamula, who has carried out an extensive study on myopia.
Near-work and closed classrooms mean eyes are constantly under stress. Doctors often prescribe an hour of outdoor activity each day to give the eyeball more exercise. Scientists also say wearing eyeglasses may not exactly help in correcting myopia and in turn could be causing problems. “We always thought that the central part of the eye matters in myopia correction but it has been increasingly shown that even the peripheral parts of the eye matter.
But our eyeglasses don’t help the periphery so they may actually be doing a lot of disservice,” Dr Shrikanth Bharadwaj, associate director of Optometry at LV Prasad Eye Institute, explained. He also thinks that though Indians are not genetically predisposed, factors such as increased use of mobile phones, tablets and computers could be trigger factors.
But scientists have no way of estimating the exact prevalence of shortsightedness in our population. “There is no direct measure. But definitely, of late, there are more children wearing glasses,” Dr Srinivas said. Prevalence is as high as 70 per cent in South East Asian countries but, scientists say that is because they have a genetic predisposition to shortsightedness.
Meaning, most will become myopic no matter how much precaution they take.
- Kukatpally, Old City and Tolichowki made their mark as the city's top street food hubs
- Political leaders attend grand Alia Balai programme in Hyderabad
- Over 7,500 daily steps before surgery tied to fewer complications
- Deepika talks mental health with corporate bosses
- Sweet Shop - Owners of Calcutta and Other Ideas: Taste the universe
- Life in motion
- Witness The Most Riveting Courtroom Drama of The Year
- Mind-Body Synergy: Embracing Profound Connection Between Mental and Physical Health
- Red Haute Alert
- WWF-India Hosts Second Earth Series Talk: "A Tale of Two Cats"
- Hyderabad entrepreneurs ‘Modify’ clothes from aloe vera to orange peel
- How to Apply Onion Juice to Hair
- Patriotism is in thing, it’s Tricolour everywhere
- Celebs too wear fakes of reputed brands
- Elon Musk on fun trail says 'buying Coca Cola next'
More Lifestyle News
- Aditi Rao Hydari misses ‘Heeramandi’ event after wedding
- Bigg Boss winner Munawar Faruqui among 14 detained in Mumbai raid
- Mrunal Thakur follows ‘grandma diet,’ believes in not skipping meals
- Selena Gomez shares makeup-free selfies on Instagram
- Diljit collaborates with Saweetie for ‘Khutti’ Song, says ‘she just landed in Punjab’
- Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor, Richa, Ali Fazal, Farah, and more at KJo’s Bash
- Jamie Lever is ‘honoured’ to represent her heritage with Telugu debut film
- Janhvi and Aditya Roy Kapur shine on the ramp for Kalki at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI
- I am fond of Kate Moss, says Diana Penty, about her fashion icon
- Kriti Kharbanda, Pulkit Samrat share pictures from dreamy wedding
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(): http:// wrapper is disabled in the server configuration by allow_url_fopen=0
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 83
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(http://www.indiaaffiliates.in/ads.php?size=300X250): failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 83
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once