Some conditions fade with time, others stay relevant, and then there are those that become far more serious. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, myopia is one of them. Through a recent study, experts estimate that by 2050, 49.8 percent of the world's population will be myopic, while nearly a billion people will suffer from high myopia.
The impact of screens
How many times has a family member told us to move away from the screen, or directly scolded us for being too close to it? First it was the television, then computers and mobile devices. We know very well that spending too many hours in front of a monitor has consequences, especially when it comes to falling asleep, but this new social norm that makes us constantly interact with all sorts of gadgets can have additional effects.
For some time now, "spending more time outdoors" has been mentioned as a measure against myopia, one of the most common causes of vision loss. In 2000, it was estimated that 22.9 percent of the world's population was myopic, but everything seems to indicate that future numbers will be even worse.
The study's predictions
The American Academy of Ophthalmology published a study that projects, with 95 percent confidence, that by 2050 there will be 49.8 percent myopic people, just over 4.7 billion inhabitants. Myopia is considered a refractive error in the eye, causing the focal point to be located in front of the retina instead of exactly on it. In the vast majority of cases, myopia is corrected with traditional glasses or contact lenses, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that it will affect a gigantic number of people. As if that weren't enough, the study also mentions those who will suffer from high myopia (also called myopia magna), and indicates that in 2050 they will be 938 million, or 9.8 percent of the population.
What can we do?
Regardless of existing medical solutions, the experts' recommendation is none other than modifying those social and environmental factors that give rise to myopia in the first place. In other words: we spend a lot of time indoors and in front of bright screens, something that is definitely true among the youngest.
