Our doom-scrolling portends doom for our vision.
In human evolution good vision was critical to survival. Dwelling in caves we found ways to paint on walls and had to read those. The writing got smaller around 500 BC when scrolls were invented, followed by books. Apple caused us to all read little hand-held telephones, and our vision has focused more sharply.
Now myopia is on the rise. We need glasses to see distances.
Dr. Wiley Walls, Scleral and Dry Eye Specialist and Optometrist at Memorial Eye Center Sugarland, confirms the findings of global studies: the more mankind adapts to reading – or looking at anything up close – the higher the number of cases of myopia. The first question he has for patients: “What are you doing with your eyes day to day?” He says the answer 80% of time is that they are sitting in front of their computer for at least 8-plus hours, so now our eyes are learning to adapt to the point of being able to see things up close, but at the expense of not being able to see distances.
It’s becoming a global epidemic. It is estimated that half the global population will need corrective lenses within the next 15 years.
“It can get a little scary out here now,” Dr. Walls says of the eye profession and the rise of myopia. “Really informing new parents of the things to look out for in their young children so that they don’t have near-sightedness, or grow into the near-sightedness monster we’re seeing now.” He stresses the importance of parents encouraging their children to play outside and engage in activities that involve looking across broad distances.
photo: Getty Images