Optometry in Practice (OiP), the College's quarterly CPD journal, covers the latest research, analysis and opinion from your profession, and provides up to 4 CPD points.
Hema Radhakrishnan looks at causes of myopia in relation to inheritance patterns and environmental factors.
Introduction
In routine clinical practice, ophthalmic professionals are often asked about the likelihood of a patient’s myopia progressing and the reason for myopia development. There are a plethora of factors which could affect myopia development and progression (Gilmartin 2004). Despite the thousands of scientific papers attempting to find the causative factor(s) for myopia development, the question of what exactly causes myopia remains unanswered. Most researchers generally agree that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of myopia. Considerable attention has been focused on the possibility that increased amounts of close work associated with tasks such as reading may precipitate myopia in genetically susceptible individuals (Rosenfield & Gilmartin 1998). This review is aimed at providing some information on the current state of understanding of the aetiology and development of myopia. The review, however, does not cover in detail the optical (e.g. corneal reshaping) and pharmacological (e.g. pirenzipine) treatment modalities for myopia.
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The College of Optometrists was invited to provide evidence at the parliamentary hearing on The Safer Phones Bill, a private member’s bill aimed at protecting children’s rights and well-being in the digital age.
Becky McCall analyses the evidence that working distance increases the risk of myopia in children, and the escalation of time spent on screens is related to the surging incidence of myopia around the world.