Why is Everyone Going Blind? The UGLY TRUTH behind the myopia epidemic

[@MichaelRChuaMD]

If you want to receive science-based tactics to improve your vision and health directly to your inbox, sign up for my Optim-Eyes newsletter at michaelchuamd.com/

[@abhhisheksharma5453]

Cool, as someone in tech I Spent good amount of time infront of company leading to increase in number from 1 to 2.5 .Any solution to reduce the number for adults

[@unmanaged]

My dad had detached rets in booth eyes at the same time, they stopped it but damaged his corneas in the surgery and they are now wavy, he is in his 70s and decied not to get replacment , but now I am worried that I will have the same issue....

[@trollmcclure1884]

have you heard about eye transplantation?

[@nathanc6516]

It's because they are growing up looking at devices instead of looking out at the world outside. It's the same with kids who read a lot of books. If you grow up focusing on things right in front of your face, your eyes adjust for that. During the Chinese Communist Revolution they killed everyone with glasses because those were the ones who got smart from reading a lot.

[@anomittity]

Since The Covid Vaccine was released, Have you seen any major increase of Myopia, Perhaps a side effect of the vaccine? Let's be honest. That vaccine enters your brain blood stream. It is not deflected so i tend to wonder. Since covid, my optical migraines and near sightedness has seemed to of gotten exponentially worse. Perhaps a co incidence but if i don't ask professionals i can't get a mental picture of it all and if perhaps the covid vaccine caused unintended side effects. Thanks for any data you can share!

[@angelkat333]

The fact that we need alternatives to spending time outdoors because our society doesn’t allow it is really dystopian.

[@SvendleBerries]

It really is.

[@johngrundowski3632]

Yes - I heard this also from other sources. Between computer screens/ t.v. , folks are developing problems; this isn’t what our ancestors did. Thanks😊

[@Matthew_Ssali]

Look out a window

[@SvendleBerries]

@@Matthew_Ssali Looking out a window and being outside are not the same thing.

[@Pcarnevaaa]

And if you work 8 hours in a building you have no choice but to ruin ur eyes for money

[@crankpatate3303]

Wow, that's the longest call for "Go play outside!" I've ever listened to!

[@vanfja]

I had to look at the comments just to understand the reason

[@Unsensitive]

There was a study in children which showed giving them glasses prescriptions which stressed the eyes in the opposite way as corrective lenses, then had them oractice reading at certain intervals and distances, improved their myopia. Essentially you need to look far on occasion, stretching or relaxing the eye muscles and parts. Going outside accomplishes this. Remember the stereotype of the nerdy booky kid with glasses... Well tablets and phones are doing the same to everyone now. There's also good data on increased vegetable and seed oil consumption on macular degeneration. [Chris Knobbed has a good lecture on it] This is due to increased Polyunsaturated fats which oxidize more easily, creating reactive molecules. Some PUFA, such as linoleic acid, in excess of 1 or 2% also create other toxic molecules. Not sure on any data related to myopia, though the increased damage and healing from these compounds in the cornea would in theory make it stiffen faster with age.

[@AVERYGOODFRIEND95]

pretty right timed when Apple s releasing its VR glasses

[@LuisSierra42]

@@AVERYGOODFRIEND95 coincidence?

[@nikicarpentier592]

Wait. What if you play outside with glasses. Not that I do, I don't understand how eyes work so I am scared to get glasses. I went from perfect vision... To doing some online courses. Within a year HF, it was so bad. Everything is blurry. But I have this irrational belief that if I did that by looking at a screen I can undo that by looking at distant things 🥲

[@eli709]

Completely blind working individual here. Thank you for this video. I’ve been working in blind and low vision services for ten years now and have noticed steady climbing of myopia amongst our population. Thank you for the explanations in this video.

[@ryanvandy1615]

Seems like all the young people are nearsighted these days. Go out and they are all wearing glasses..

[@RKingis]

Are you in the US?

[@eli709]

@@RKingis I am.

[@RKingis]

@@eli709 Do you know about the NFB & National Library Service?

[@eli709]

@@RKingis I do. Taught people how to utilize it for about 5 years.

[@kh-wg9bt]

I'm 35 with prefect vision. My wife is basically blind without glasses. I've always wondered how something SO not compatible with staying alive could be rife in our genes. Like a few thousand years ago bad eyesight would be a death sentence. This all makes a lot of sense to me. Edit: most of these replies which are implying it's natural and normal for short sightedness to be integral to communal life seem to be saying either it's an age thing and older people are looked after or it's an advantage to have better close vision in select individuals in a tribe. Many people including my wife had poor vision from mid teens and she can't see better than me up close. She can see clearly within like a meter but not more so than me. And prehistoric humans only lived to 30-40 so obviously vision declining around then is not what I'm talking about. It's just way more plausible how we're living and using our eyes in this modern world is destroying our vision in an unnatural way

[@GaryNeilsonJr.]

Genes that are active can change based on circumstances like what we eat whether we're outside, exercise,screens , etc etc.

[@GaryNeilsonJr.]

Shot a lot of people don't sleep enough and stare at screens all day it is bad for your vision.

[@0ptimal]

Lol yep. Ive thought the same thing many times. Mine are very bad, i often think sht man i better go get lasik before the apocalypse or im fkd lol

[@hueco5002]

Same my dude. Also mid 30’s and didn’t hit 20/15 for the first time in my life at my last eye test (20/20). My wife had lasik, which worked for a decade or two, and now needs glasses again. Praying my kid got my eyes.

[@sergemarlon]

I used to think the same thing. I recently got LASIK surgery, now my vision is better than 20/20, before my precision was close to -7 in each eye. I was practically blind, couldn't read clearly unless my baseball cap was almost touching the content I was trying to read. So I used to think, if this were 300 years ago, I'd be dead. Then I realized as I got older that the support systems we had 300 years ago, 300 years for me was when my people were still hunter gatherers, were made to support the community regardless of disability. I realize now that I can hunt and gather even with -7 vision. You can still see animals and tell what kind of animal is it through its blur. With that much blurry vision, you would be ignorant to think that you can't hunt it. The same goes for gathering. With a group of gatherers, a literal blind person can still gather the needed materials. They can sense by smell and touch easily enough. Don't assume less ability is a death sentence.

[@tigerxplso]

I've spent my early years 8-20 playing video games, watching videos, and reading in front of a computer for 8-14 hrs a day. I had 0, none, problems with eyesight. Then, I went to college and stopped playing video games that much, started working out, and reading more physical books. The result: In 3 years I developed nearsightedness with -1.75 R and -2.0 L. My parents still blame it on the computer…

[@darealrulezbreaker9493]

lmao parents and their fantasies, classic

[@cmudd9788]

I think all the unnatural light in large cities is part of the problem. I’m 41, grew up in the country and lived in the country until I was 38. After moving to and living in a big city for the past 3 years and driving for Doordash in the evenings and nights with all the super bright led lights that cars have nowadays and all the bright city lights constantly shining in my face, my vision has declined noticeably over the past 3 years.

[@camotym4920]

"collage"?? Or college? 🤔

[@tuanfro]

were you reading under LEDs?

[@pejv7903]

I have the same exact situation, only I started reading books on my computer rather than physical ones. Andrew Huberman had a podcast where he talked about the potential dangers of reading upclose (and indoors), you should watch it.

[@stevenjbernard]

Ever since I started spending more time inside watching KZbin videos and less time working outside, I've noticed a significant decline in my ability to see things at a distance. Thank you for shedding some light on this pressing issue.

[@Meta_Gryphon]

Correlation is not causality.

[@sepg5084]

​​@@Meta_Gryphon nobody said it was. It was just an observation, and i have observed the same. My eyesight worsened during the pandemic, where i used my phone a lot more. Was that the cause? I don't know. But that was what i observed.

[@tiranito2834]

@@Meta_Gryphon Continuity does not mean differentiability, but differentiability implies continuity. We're seeing the derivative here, this ain't a conspiracy theory. Same way that 2+2=4 and the Earth is most certainly not a flat disc. But hey, you're free to believe in the magic man in the sky just wanting kids to be blind for some reason, maybe he stepped on a pebble or something.

[@Meta_Gryphon]

@@tiranito2834 There is no magic man in the sky. But there is genetics.

[@alphaomega9387]

@@Meta_Gryphonand how do you think the parents of a person with myopia got it in the first place and inherit to his children? well, they'd have to get myopia first, just like how a kid with both parents without myopia, is still able to get it if he doesn't get enough sunlight

[@JackOfAllTrades0404]

My eyesight IMPROVED the year I worked in a flower shop moving flowers in and out of coolers and delivering them around town instead of staring at a screen all day. Since moving back to a desk job I’m getting headaches and my eyesights once again getting worse.

[@DharmaPunk111]

Get blue light glasses. I got some blubox glasses and they help a lot. There are a lot of fake blue light glasses out there. The real ones cost a decent chunk of money but it's worth it

[@stephenriggs8177]

Interesting! I had always had 20/20 vision, until early adulthood. But I switched jobs, going from being a reporter who split time between gathering news and writing it up, to being a copy editor, who stared at a screen eight hours a day. The change was dramatic. My vision quickly started to deteriorate, so I visited an eye doctor. He was astonished that I'd even been able to drive to the office, given how bad my vision had gotten.

[@user-zu1ix3yq2w]

My vision was about 20/15 when I was 19. A few months of living in a 120 degree f desert and I became myopic. I had always used screens so I don't think that was the sole cause.

[@curlyhairdudeify]

Did you get the blue light filter lenses?

[@curlyhairdudeify]

​@@user-zu1ix3yq2wDesert= light and UV light cooking your retina.

[@bebemax95]

​@@user-zu1ix3yq2wWhat was your diet like? Processed foods, Sugar, and seed/vegetable oils could also be reasons why your eye sight gets poor. Health habits like food effect everything

[@user-zu1ix3yq2w]

@@bebemax95 I don't remember.. was years ago. Probably not great during those few months specifically. My vision has been stable (no changes) since then, just poor.

[@TheGhostInTheMachine-c7x]

Doctor Chua, I for one would like to thank you for this presentation. I have been nearsighted most of my life, and this condition is no joke. I was not aware many of the other aspects of this condition that you highlight. I want to encourage you to continue to get the result of these studies out to the general public.

[@nutzeeer]

I think this can also be undone. I have had a 2 week long bike tour outside every day with sun. After this my usual computer glasses were too strong. My myopia improved a bit. This can definitely be treated.

[@runnergo1398]

Did you wear sunglasses while you were outside?

[@29aaronjones]

Socio economic factors play the biggest part in longevity and health. Aka Maybe you are rich enough to bike daily. Haha. I am happy for you either way

[@nutzeeer]

@@runnergo1398 no normal glasses

[@nutzeeer]

@@29aaronjones it was a bike vacation :) now i bike to work, which is normal in germany, but its only 20 minutes.

[@Srt3D01-db-01]

@@29aaronjoneslol really? Bikes are super cheap. PS: you dont need the latest model whether is road or mountain bike. If one is not competing there is no need to have a 7k bike. A regular used mountain bike could do the trick. Anything from 300-500 dls , any 26" would do if you dont want to spend a lot 😊

[@LauraB.335]

I think A LOT of our eye issues are due to what we eat and the resulting insulin resistance. There are many people that comment on eliminating sugar, processed foods, and seed/vegetable oils and their eyesight got better.

[@meathead365]

Bingo

[@franny5295]

My own eyesight is changing because I've been in ketosis for other reasons for over a year. It takes a while for my eyes to adjust so that I can actually see through them but a weaker prescription works better. So it's crazy how that works.

[@siewkimng1085]

It contributes some but primarily the cause is near work + progressively stronger power lenses that makes the near work nearer.

[@jackiekostiw5298]

I 100% agree ❤

[@FragEightyfive]

It is not just eye health, and insulin resistance is a big one. Highlyprocessed foods, sugars-high fructose corn syrup is common.

[@GustavKampp]

Thank you for bringing attention to this issue. I wasn't aware.

[@JaXuun]

I am always astonished how self destructive our body is. It can enlengthen the eye ball until we become blind but refuses to shorten it. It can remove cartilage with yet unknown triggers and create the worst pain humans know but it cant regrow it or lets say it doesnt want to.

[@1x93cm]

From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me.

[@PigeonLaughter01]

Lmao did you even listen to the end. It's all mainly based of habits and bahaviors. our bodies aren't randomly falling apart, they deteriorate, or strengthen depending on what we eat and do, we can live a long and mobile life. Don't be a victim of biology, understand it and apply it for your benefit.

[@dreamingflurry2729]

We are a throw away article basically! Look at the past when humans lived "in their natural habitat" (caves!) and died at around 30-40 years old! We didn't need self-repair mechanisms etc. So we are basically stretching our bodies beyond their natural expiration date and we demand that they do things we weren't made for (working with tons of screens, reading a lot, sitting a lot etc.)...still, I get it I also think our human bodies are badly put together, that's partly why I don't believe in any gods, because they would have to be sadists if they made us this way! An engineer making something this defective would probably be chased of with torches and pitchforks!

[@dreamingflurry2729]

@@1x93cm Well, if I could get replacements for most of my body parts (I'd keep the "inefficient" stomach etc. (because I enjoy eating) and my male parts, because I enjoy having these, too), that worked at least just as well (and would be easy to repair if damaged) if not way better (think Deus Ex or Cyberpunk 2077), then I'd do it (as long as there were laws in place that made sure that you could get repairs, software updates etc. at affordable prices and that those things couldn't be hacked remotely or be used to track you!)

[@1charlastar886]

@@PabloB888OXALATES may be part of tissue destruction in eyes and cartilage in joints. Super foods like spinach, chard, almonds, cashews and so many more foods are VERY high in this toxic substance. Look it up. EONutrition and Sally K. Norton have some of the best info on this destructive material in foods.

[@ashleeminnow8453]

This is really scary tbh. I've always had bad vision, I needed glasses as a very young child. All my siblings, both my parents, my nephews, cousins, etc, all need glasses. We all are nearsighted. I'm 30 now, my prescription is like - 6 and - 6.75 in my eyes, and I have astigmatism, AND I just had a retina tear for seemingly no reason. You're absolutely right this is a slow moving train wreck that we're happening right before our eyes.

[@vicvic2081]

I take my glasses off when walking

[@DownByTheGrave]

nobody asked@@vicvic2081

[@A2hlyn]

I see what you did there (only with my glasses on)

[@MarceloArzubialdeRodriguez]

@@vicvic2081why would you do that?

[@frostreaper1607]

@@vicvic2081 not possible with a -6 , thats already dangerous at -5.

[@n7ekg]

I almost starved to death when I was under 6 months old. I consequently was diagnosed with high myopia, probably because of poor nutrition. My myopia now requires about 18 diopters of correction, and my ophthalmologist constantly briefs me on the symptoms of retinal tears and detachments. I also get an eye exam every year to try and catch problems before they get to the point of being untreatable.

[@ockertoustesizem1234]

you were born with extreme myopia

[@planetmoving9180]

Hypothesis: Grow up within square rooms and looking near and you get nearsighted. Live outside and look to distant landscape and you dont get nearsighted. I worked in a forest for 2 years and during that time my vision did not decline as it usually does each year. I attributed it to always looking to distant points through the day.

[@Mallchad]

it probably helps. eye muscles need training too and their help with focus. However, I think it's rather odd and concerning that muscles atrophy so fast. it seems deadly genetically to become frail after resting in a cave for 2 weeks. it doesn't make sense

[@christinakaur8766]

I agree. I've read that our ancestors could see much further away with sharpness, and colours were more vivid.

[@kittycat8222]

Ah I can’t remember the name, but I recently watched a video that explained what you said. You can heal your eyes by going outside and focusing on something far away. Over time and practice. That far away focusing is what we Are Missing. It’s what’s causing this.

[@amethyst4444]

Wow good point!!! Makes sense!

[@Khoros-Mythos]

100% agreed, no one in my family has myopia, and neither did I up until I got a computer as a teenager and started spending most of my time glued to a screen an inch away from my face. Then, all of a sudden I started noticing everything beyond the distance of my screen was blurry.

[@Kaidkb]

I'm almost 40 with perfect vision. I spend most of the day in front of a computer and have since high school. I thank God for my good eyesight.

[@kuritheking]

I’m blessed with reasonable eyesight and I too am thankful because I enjoy computer work

[@roygalaasen]

Same here, but soon 50. Something is going on now, though. Time to check my eyes, but it was a good run. Computers since I was around 10-ish years old.

[@LearnWatercolorPainting]

I'm 52 and now my eyes are starting to go a bit bad. Before they were so good. Take care of your eyes.

[@manfredschultz9619]

Same here, been staring at screens, sometimes screens cm from the eyes (VR) heh. No problem

[@MrRmann1234]

Good for you. You have less than ten years.

[@aj89803]

Thank you for making this video. I'm 23 and recently had a detached retina in my -3.0 eye. Thankfully it is healing well so far.. but I also have tears in both eyes and lattice degeneration. Prior to this I had no idea how bad of a problem myopia is for my generation. I spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid at a summer camp and in sports. My eyes were healthy. Now I am a software developer and spend easily around 60 hours a week on screens. I've been told that screen time doesn't have much impact on eye health after puberty but I don't believe that. I am considering a career change to get away from the constant screen time.

[@jacobheinz8236]

I can vouch for this with my personal experience. My eyesight deteriorated after I started reading in poor lighting conditions when I was a kid.

[@dreamingflurry2729]

Same - so indirectly it's my parents' fault! How? Well, they were sending me to be at 10 PM when I wanted to read for a few hours more (it's not like I would have stayed up all night -.-)

[@user-zu1ix3yq2w]

The eyes need sunshine to produce a hormone that can tell the eyes to stop growing when it's time.

[@SanctuaryLife]

Try cocaine, it boosts dopamine

[@runnergo1398]

My eyes didn't worsen until I went to college and had to do a lot of reading.

[@Broockle]

yep, that'll do it. Read safe in there 👓💡☀

[@heatherjones1453]

So interesting! My eyes were getting terrible in my mid 30's. I started work as a gardener and later on in tree care. My prescription stabilized quite quickly and my eyes were deemed healthy. (I also quit smoking and drinking, but for me, working outside really changed my eyes).

[@ROTALOT]

Same. I have moderate stabilized myopia and astigmatism that was getting worse in my fifties but gardening and sunbathing I see much better again. My high pilchard diet seems to help too.

[@SobrietyandSolace]

I didn’t really have eye tests until I was an duly so when I first realised i had astigmatism and myopia I realised just how hard it is to focus on trees and plants when they are made up of so many small branches and leaves. Trying to look at grass screws with my eyes too

[@x-mess]

Vitamin d from sun?

[@umiluv]

@@x-mess- that’s what it sounds like.

[@jpt7955]

Twenty years ago I read an article claiming that there would be a vision epidemic happening... and here we are. The author of the article claimed it was because of the increasing use of computer screens. Our eyes focus differently on pixelated words than on written or printed words and this weakens the eye over time.

[@DrDavidThor]

I stopped needing eyeglasses in the last few years by palming, resting the eyes, doing the things recommended above as well. Now 65 and my eyes are definitely getting better. Dr. William Bates worked for me, but this guy is also right.

[@Broockle]

did u test ur eye sight since? Could be entirely in ur head I used to do this too and even printed out eye tests to hang on walls and test/train with. It's very easy to make belief when it comes to your own health 😅

[@DrDavidThor]

I find make-believe difficult at first, but then suddenly I'll get it and it's easier after that. Stopping believing in viruses four years ago just kind of happened to me. I realized I just no longer had that belief. Is how I went from three or four colds and flu a year to zero in four years. People always want to talk you out of belief and try to bring you in line with the standard belief, and we tend to internalize these beliefs that aren't really our own. Perhaps you can see another comment to me that came in next to yours. I'm sure the person means well but it's the kind of thing that gets internalized so often. They say in effect: "old people do this." It's like there's a schedule, and when you're old you're supposed to do what everyone else does. My father-in-law at a hundred years old followed Bates and didn't wear glasses, not even on the computer. His kids were constantly trying to disparage this achievement by saying that he had one eye for close work and one eye for long. In other words, they kept trying to put him back on the standard schedule: you're old so here's what you're supposed to do. He ignored them. @@Broockle

[@Broockle]

@@DrDavidThor Happy for you that you found a philosophy for yourself. There's a difference though between viruses you fight every day and flew seasons or epidemics that sweep a nation. Those 4 a year you mention were prbly just you allowing yourself to get sick by lacking proper nutrition, exercise and outdoor activity. When I get symptoms I just take an ascorbic acid tablet and go on with my day, if it gets worse, then I start worrying about if I'll infect anyone else and maybe spend a day at home. I never get bed ridden though, never understood the concept.

[@deadlyjoz8761]

@@DrDavidThor" "old people do this." It's like there's a schedule" There is a schedule ... is called biology clown ....is insane how stupid someone can be .

[@dannyteebone9233]

@@DrDavidThoryup! Love it! I’m the same exact way with many different things in my life but only 47 but that’s unfathomably old to my 13 year old. He just can’t understand how I tend to go against the grain from on some things risking not fitting in to anything that is not generally socially accepted by the masses.

[@colinsmith1495]

This is why I had so much hope for light field technology that seems to have almost stagnated for 6 years (at least that's what it looks like to me). This implemented in VR and AR would not only allow those tools to simulate depth of field for eye muscles, but also have eliminated considerable eye-strain associated with these. This could have replaced all current screen displays as the go-to display method and greatly improved digital interactions overall, while also at least letting us know if the move to closer visual interactions is related to the growth of myopia.

[@Mallchad]

this is a really cool use of VR tbh

[@power50001562]

​@user-iy1vo2jf2qit also has taken some time to understand how to properly develop VR games to reduce sickness and how to play them without getting sick. For example the people who tried to push through their nausea just ended up associating the game they were playing with sickness and made it worse.

[@marcusdumitru]

Theoretically, yes. But it's more about the VR tech then it meets the eyes. (Pun intended). The brain needs to correlate the input of the eyes with all other senses. If they don't correspond, am error is flagged and you CNS suffers a breakdown.

[@NakujaChan]

This is such a huge video for any parents or potential parents. Thanks for making this video, I'm sure it will help at least some people consider having their kids spend more time outside.

[@norma8686]

Playing outside in the bright sunlight won't help if you have family with miopia. I grew up in the 90s playing in bright sunlight all my childhood. When I was 12 I had to start wearing glasses, both my mom and my aunt from my dad's side have miopia so playing outside did not help me.

[@AIt-Girl]

same here, all of my family has myopia so yea more sunlight wont benefit if its a genetic problem sadly, but somehow even though ive been playing videogames since i was 3 years old i have better vision than the rest of my family who were always outside, its weird

[@Alice_Fumo]

It's still going to reduce the severity. I'd even argue it may be more important in that case, since further damage to the eyes is more problematic when they're already bad.

[@tonyawhitten5199]

Well, there must be a common reason that this increase in miopia has gotten worse. I imagine what you have is genetic.

[@jewelleryaddict]

Same here grew up in 60s. Played outside from 5 to ? All summer got plenty sun. Needed glasses to see the board at 12. Most family wore glasses. Were no cell phones or iPad or computers. Tvs still were not in every house.

[@lloydbenham]

My eye health has deteriorated significantly since I became an electrician, which requires extended near work. Your observations make sense. Thank you for sharing this information, you have great teaching and communication skills!

[@zacharysherry2910]

Me too and I'm an electrician. I have esotropic strabismus

[@syrus1233]

Wow I was considering being and electrician and thought it would be better for my eyes then being a software engineer.

[@syrus1233]

@@zacharysherry2910how is being an electrician? Is it good

[@zacharysherry2910]

@@syrus1233 you make good money to deal with construction idiots, training/schooling and danger. I guess there are worse things 👍

[@happygood18]

I really love how you provide all the references. ❤ Thanks, Doc.

[@wwiiinplastic4712]

Since I started working from home as an online teacher, I have noticed more eye strain and vision issues. My prescription has not changed much (yet) and I hope that is because I have been trying to do as much as I can to reduce the strain. Between classes I go outside and look out across my yard or at least look out the window to focus on something more than 8 feet away from my face. I'm also finding myself needing as close to the magic 8 hours of sleep as I can get or my eyes feel crap in the morning. Going my a brightly lit classroom of a decent size is very different from a small office with typical home lighting. I also suspect LED lighting is aggravating my eyes as well. It doesn't seem quite right.

[@tuanfro]

look up blue light condition leds destroy eye muscles.. can still be repaired initially.. just wearing orange lenses is v helpful at prevention and reversing.

[@barnabasannius827]

If you see my comment I just want to say this. Bad vision is not caused by doing near work such as computer/reading etc but by using your eyes incorrectly when doing these activities which is as a result of developing bad vision habits. So to help with your eye strain I suggest you start palming and learn the real truth about how to improve vision naturally and take care of your eyes which you will not get from a medical doctor. If you interested a great place to start getting information is school for self healing on youtube by meir Schneider. Get his book vision for life and learn how to use your eyes.

[@Mallchad]

​@@tuanfroI've never seen proof of this. sunlight is ionizing radiation. how are LEDs worse??

[@MaitreMark]

The hand wash people used in the scamdemic was methanol - it is absorbed through the skin and if you use it more than 20 times a day it can cause blindness.

[@0ptimal]

Yea maybe one day well look back at our indifference for the type of light we bath in as a foolish mistake.

[@kaden-sd6vb]

Going blind has always been one of my biggest fears. None of my family members have suffered anything severe but poor eyesight runs in the family. My eyesight seems to be "stabilizing" in recent years, its still bad but not getting worse now. I just hope it stays that way.

[@talakamal4186]

yes the fear 💔,,, my eyesight started to get worst when school was online .. more than 7 hours i spend daily on learning . that time my eyes were always red. today. i can see things rly near but anything near is blurry .i hate the fear 💔

[@Winkmyster]

I'm thankful my myopia hasn't worsened since I was a young teen, it's stayed within -2.00 for both eyes and for perfect vision individuals it's like having 480p without glasses and then switching to 4k with glasses.

[@kylefer]

I've been near sighted since I was a child. Recently I went to the beaches of Florida for the first time. It took me roughly half an hour of squinting hard to get the sunlight to not affect me, as it shined brightly on the sand. After about 2 hours in this sun, I went into the ocean and took my glasses off. Upon looking back at the beach, I realized I could read the names of the hotels and other text on buildings without my glasses, something I have never been able to do. This supports what is said around the 8 minute plus mark. My vision wasn't perfect, but it was better. It did go back to 'normal' or what is normal for me, after a day.

[@gabfid3]

One additional effect is that the pupils will contract when exposed to bright light reducing the aperture size(f-stops) and increasing the depth of field, as the depth of field increases the areas out of focus become less so. This is also why myopia becomes worse when it's dark and alsp why movies are filmed with a large aperture size to produce bokeh and shallow depth of field. The smaller the aperture the higher the f number is.

[@Dee-zs1qt]

I like your f -stop analogy.

[@Filioush]

@@gabfid3 I don't think that can be the sole reason - I've experienced something very similar, where my vision in my right eye gets better as I spend more time outside, even if the light level remains the same (surely the pupil doesn't just take hours to contract? on the contrary, I'd expect it be contracted more at the start of light exposure and then less so as time goes on and the eye gets adjusted to the higher light level).

[@mamc7251]

... I have fairly serious myopia ... and retina flash burn ... and photosensitivity ... so, sunlight and outdoors are a rotten idea for me ... ... in college, my prescription got worse, not from screens, but from all of the intense reading ... after a month out of school on summer break, my prescription improved ... then sank again upon returning ... And, my myopia made it possible to correct my vision with my glasses to 20:15 or 20:10 ... if my lenses only correct to 20:20, I don't feel like I can read street signs at a safe distance for me ... another benefit: you know the tiny print stamped inside of rings? I can read it with my glasses off and without a loupe ... I get the risks from myopia ... both myopia and macular degeneration run in my family ... my mom staves hers off by eating an incredible amount of carrots ... that said, I wouldn't trade it away.

[@tarantolopictures481]

This makes sense. I’m 22 and still have 20/20 vision. My mom always told me when using my computer take a break every 20 minutes and focus on something across the room or outside. Think this helped a lot as I was more indoors as a kid. I’ve also always tried to refocus my eyes when driving or doing other things. I know this is anecdotal but it’s such a simple thing to do and I don’t doubt that it helps

[@BIOSHOCKFOXX]

By "focus" you don't mean straining/squinting your eyes as you try to look for the objects in distance and try to read them? Because I have been taught to not do that if I can't read, I should get closer, because otherwise it strains eyes and it deal damage over time.

[@Debbie-henri]

You should be commended for listening to your mother as doing as she suggested. I'm always telling my son to get off the computer for 5 minutes, to do something else, to look around the room for a bit. But ever since the dark day I allowed the internet into this house, my son has been hooked like a fish. He wakes up, switches on his smartphone, playing about for as long as possible until we shout at him to catch his bus to work. There, he works as a web developer full time. He comes home, bolts down his dinner, and then plays games until 2am every morning. He wears glasses. I do too, I've worn glasses since I was 11 years old. But his eyesight is much, much worse than mine was at his age. He'll go blind I know it, but he won't listen. He's stubborn thinks he knows best, and doesn't listen to the fact that we have blind relatives. Yesterday, I went to the optician to have an eye floater checked out. It's okay, and the optician congratulated me on the remarkable health of my eyes. But then it's no surprise they are so good (despite glasses correction). I'm a keen gardener. I go foraging, walking far and wide through woods, along riversides, and I have excellent night vision for a human. (My optician said my pupil's reaction to light is exceptional for my age. I put that down to walking a lot in the very early morning, when it's barely light and walking through dense pine plantations. I eat good wholefoods, no ultra processed junk, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners).

[@DrDementia]

@@Debbie-henri sounds like you the let the internet raise your child than doing it yourself

[@chinossynthesizer705]

​@@BIOSHOCKFOXXbut your eyes squint outside when it's a bright day and the sun is shining on your face.

[@azumi5459]

my mom keep telling me to use glasses for a small minus. I refused, thinking that it's better to keep training my eyes despite the blur so it doesn't get worse. many years later now the optician tells me my eyes still good. while my brother who keep changing glasses to follow the minus only have the eyes keep getting worse.

[@jimparr01Utube]

Absolutely stunning reveal. Thank you so much Sir.

[@angeloa.lapizar8139]

I'm 17 now, and I've developed myopia at the age of 16, and I honestly blame it on the pandemic, it made me spend too much time indoors and too much time on my phone. Thanks for this info, I will definitely be spending more time in the bright sunlight instead of just being indoors most of the time Edit: I forgot to mention that it is only in my left eye, my right eye is completely fine (I believe)

[@placeholder7311]

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and I don't know your situation but I would like to leave my thoughts and advice. Take what I say with a grain of salt. Based on what you've described I think you might have developed pseudomyopia. Whereas myopia is caused by a lengthening of the eyeball, pseudomyopia is a result of your focusing muscle, the ciliary, having a spasm. I.e., it gets stuck and can't relax to let your vision see far distances. Pseudomyopia can be reversed by letting your ciliary relax by not making it look at close or near objects. There is a danger if it is confused with myopia, though. If you get prescribed glasses/lenses for what is really pseudomyopia, it is possible that you can actually develop real myopia. The reason is a bit technical but the idea is that the lenses focus the light in your eye further back than normal (which is the point because people with myopia have longer eyeballs so the light needs to focus further back). However, if you don't actually have myopia, the light is focused behind the eyeball, so the eyes "adapt" by actually elongating to correct for this, hence developing actual myopia. Since you've only developed nearsightedness recently, I just thought it important to let you know that it is possible that you are not truly myopic and to try to prevent you from potentially making your condition worse. Although, I repeat again; I am not a medical professional and I could have completely missed the mark on this. This is merely something for you to consider moving forward. Anyways, I hope that was helpful. For more information, you could do your own research on pseudomyopia, but honestly, I myself got the inspiration from this website: endmyopia. org. (splitting the link because youtube sometimes deletes comments with links). Now, bear in mind, the website and the guy who runs it are rather controversial, and I think the website itself is rather difficult to navigate to get useful information. I do believe that the core ideas are at least legit though.

[@oftentigre]

​@@placeholder7311I have read about pseudomyopia on reputable websites and PubMed studies. I have also watched various videos of optometrists and ophthalmologists discussing it. I think your advice is excellent. Before getting a new prescription, the ciliary muscles need to be relaxed to obtain accurate lenses/eyeglasses. It's essential to follow the recommendations in this video and adhere to the 20/20/20 rule (or at least 5 minute break every hour) to prevent eye fatigue, which is a cause of pseudomyopia.

[@secondfavoritefarmcousin]

How many COVID vaccines did you get?

[@Digger-Nick]

Buddy People have spent twice as much screen time as you at your age and never have problems. That's not your issue lol

[@admrotob]

@@secondfavoritefarmcousin stop with this garbage. COVID vaccines have nothing to do with myopia. Dr.Chua mentioned several examples of environmental impacts and genetic impacts. Please stop spreading medical misinformation.

[@jackschitt6235]

We absolutely have to get through to the masses about the obesity and type 2 diabetes problem and the eye problems it causes. A surgeon is not the answer. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is what "average" people need to start following. Same with dental health etc.

[@DrAndrewDoan]

Absolutely! Obesity is at epidemic levels. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are global concerns, with obesity contributing to the rising incidence of diabetes. These conditions burden healthcare due to associated complications like heart and kidney diseases. Efforts to mitigate these health issues include promoting exercise and healthier eating habits.

[@stringlarson1247]

Paging Dr. Robert Lustig.

[@Praise___YaH]

Guys, Here is The Savior YaH The Heavenly FATHER (Genesis 1) HIMSELF was Who they Crucified/Pierced for our sins and “HERE IS THE PROOF” From the Ancient Semitic: "Yad He Vav He" is what Moshe (Moses) wrote, when Moses asked YaH His Name (Exodus 3) Ancient Semitic Direct Translation Yad - "Behold The Hand" He - "Behold the Breath" Vav - "Behold The NAIL"

[@velvetbees]

​@@DrAndrewDoanI was prediabetic 8 years ago. I started cutting out sugar, gluten, and all junk food. I finally went on keto, which I break at times, but go back pretty easily. I lost 65 pounds and have kept it off for five years. 24 BMI, no diabetes, no aches and pain. I am almost 70, and 1 prescription. My health improved dramatically.

[@DrAndrewDoan]

@@velvetbees Amazing! GREAT JOB!

[@michaeldelorenzo2700]

This is the kind of stuff they should put on the news. Excellent video I learned a lot thank you

[@DharmaPunk111]

I agree and parenting tips or something because the amount of uneducated dumb bs I see parents do in this day and age is just sad. Our news is consumer capitalist focused though so they mainly run stories that are entertaining or shocking because it brings in the money... 😢

[@brendareed5050]

My dad has 2 of the worst conditions on your list, blindness from stroked optic nerves due to blood loss in a motorcycle accident and leg amputation above the knee, also due to the same accident. He is 83 and remembers seeing all his life until the age of 64.

[@shuumai]

Oh, man, I never thought about the side potential effects of blood loss, other than the obvious. We carry a small trauma kit in the car with a tourniquet and pressure bandage. I never thought it could also save eyesight! Now that I think of it, on the rare occasion that I ride a motorcycle, I don't have a tourniquet with me. That needs to change.

[@brendareed5050]

@@shuumai Glad you are thinking proactively! My dad rode motorcycles from a teenager till he was 64, and he was a very safe driver. The accident was not his fault.

[@shuumai]

@@brendareed5050 yeah, I worry about cars accidentally or purposely causing an accident.

[@a.k.3659]

Damn, it's amazing how this youtube algorithm works! Before watching this video I was thinking that maybe it's about time to sell my motorcycle!

[@vanishingfox1339]

My experience personally is I worked inside an office for 7 years my eye sight declined and I had to wear glasses. I’ve been working outside for the last 5 years and my eye sight improved so much that I regained 20/20. I do most of my outside work at night and I thought it was very odd that it got so much better, but this seems to line up.

[@sakurakushinada3694]

this gives me so much relief that eye sight can be restored ;-; there was a period of time i was indoors alot and saw my 20/20 vision was kinda worsened a tad bit

[@md.mahdihasan12]

Gave me some hope of improving my eye sight.

[@unseeliesidhegoddess]

I'm in my 40s and have never spent much time in front of screens. Especially in early childhood. I've never been big into tv or anything. Yet I am incredibly highly myopic.

[@TheSaitrus]

Have you been reading a lot of books or newspapers? The screens aren't the only problem.

[@ZlPPENHAFT]

i spents many years looking at pc screens more than 10 hours a day and i dont have myopic, i began presbyopes but very small issue and i'm 50. i think it's more genetic than what they believe.

[@JimOkurku_]

I have had myopia diagnosed when I was about 6-8, somewhere there I can't remember, and the thing that really saved me from going blind was me being forced outside with my parents in a forest environment to look for mushrooms, Arguably I hated it, but at the end of the day, I'm not blind and never needed glasses, If I were raised like most children, I'd 100% need glasses right now. and as a bonus, I now know more about mushrooms than 99% of people on here

[@ianstuart5660]

Magic mushrooms too?

[@ron1836]

Looking at things up close for too much time in our lives. Not being outside and having to view things from a distance. really found out how this effected me when i suddenly retreated to a dark room for over a year after severe trauma. When i started trying to go outside it was difficult. Made me dizzy. My eyes and my brain were overwhelmed snd changed from no sunlight. Staring at screens. And bsing in the dark looking at thigs no farther than 10 feet away.

[@SanctuaryLife]

You can offset it by taking cocaine regularly

[@ron1836]

@@SanctuaryLife I do meth... Much longer acting

[@Veldazandtea]

Looking at things up close doesn't harm eyes. I been doing that for over 20 years at my computer, 8+ hours a day. That part is a myth. What will harm eyes is bright lights. The sun is an obvious one but people also tend to use big lights. Then there's car lights at night constantly being shined in peoples eyes. I use a lamp indoors (and am one to remain indoors). Things like eating/sleeping habits also factor in.

[@ron1836]

@@Veldazandtea wasn't a myth for me. I think it has something to do with different muscles around the eyes and face gaining or losing strength and size. This then puts different pressures on the eyes and causes them to change shape. The different ways it can changed effect vision in different ways.

[@anthonyrsfk9116]

Great video! I love doctors that try to find the root of the problem and suggest solutions to that as opposed to slapping a bandaid or suggesting operations without any further consideration.

[@darrelbryant]

This topic is the most important subject, next to glaucoma , that I've heard you talk about. I have both. Thank you, Dr. Chua

[@MichaelRChuaMD]

Thanks for your support!

[@Angello20-PY]

Golden information. Let's spread the word. Blessings!

[@bijoychandraroy]

Ngl, I shed tears watching this. Trying to see without my glasses made me face the harsh reality that I'm nothing without them. I can't even see my hands clearly...

[@marcellabrowning315]

Having worked with blind people, their lives are super challenging. High tech has provided numerous solutions. As scholars and employees, some have soared high above most people, and I highly recommend hiring them. A blind man emphatically said, "Do all you can to preserve your vision!!!" in response to a request for advise to help blind children learn academic lessons. Thank you for your devotion to sight Doctor.

[@drea409]

You have a very engaging way of presenting information. Even though there were relatively few visuals, i found this video to be entertaining and even calming. Great work

[@mrod87]

Going outside and taking my glasses off and doing yoga, or my days at the pool or just relaxing outside in nature with no glasses on helps my eyes sooooo much.

[@happysloth3208]

For me it’s genetic, as a kid they told me that I’ll need glasses when I was an adult. My mom had me do everything to prevent me from needing glasses. But I ended up needing glasses at age 18. I still try to not wear them at home but I need them when I’m going out.

[@DoctorEyeHealth]

Great video! I hope to tackle this subject soon too. Out of curiosity, what treatment options do you prefer or find the most exciting?

[@MichaelRChuaMD]

Thanks! I routinely offer ortho-K, multifocal daily soft contact lenses, and nightly low-dose atropine, or a combination of those treatments to young patients with myopia. As you know, the ideal treatment plan depends on patient age, degree of myopia, degree of astigmatism, patient finger dexterity, responsibility/compliance, parent motivation, and of course, cost. I'm also a huge fan of your videos! Thanks for all you do for our patients

[@polylight]

My kid is doing well with Ortho K. Feels weird hunting so hard for this treatment and having to drive an hour for a provider! It should be the go-to option instead of horrible progressive of increasing prescription glasses.

[@kenmarriott5772]

You can't fix bad habits with glasses or drugs.

[@kristine7304]

Thank you so much for this informative video. I always suspected that upgrading corrective lenses too frequently increases my myopia severity more rapidly. For example if I waited longer between eye exams the difference between prescriptions was less. Whenever I got a new prescription, it always felt "too perfect" for a while until my eyes adjusted. Almost like my eyes couldn't tolerate 20/20 vision and it had to adjust to be less crisp before I would feel comfortable again. I'm 35. I started wearing glasses at 8 or 9 years old. My ophthalmologists have said myopia usually doesn't worsen after age 25, but every time I go in for an exam, I need a stronger prescription. I have suffered vitriol detachment, luckily no retinal detachment. My myopia is too severe to be a candidate for Lasik corrective surgery. My kids all have mild near sightedness. My oldest is 16 and she is the only one with glasses. She only uses them while at school to see the board from her desk. It is my personal opinion that wearing glasses all the time creates a change in the way your eye adjusts to viewing things near and far and unless you "need" what you are looking at to be crisp such as seeing words at a distance, they shouldn't be worn. This is obviously anecdotal, but it would be interesting to see studies on this. From what I have learned from this video, I will implement more outdoor sun time for my kids and see how that goes. Like he said, it's good for us in other ways too, and it's free!

[@WTH1812]

Shifting between near sights and distance sights also seems to help long term vision maintenance. Tongue and Cheek true life lessons: Take a break, look out the window, wander outside for a "sight break", or close you eyes for a few minutes several times a day not only gives your eyes some exercise, it also lets you relax, reset yourself, and not scream at the computer screen or cell phone, though both of these still benefit from the wonders of vocabulary expansion. What's my source, extreme myopia from the first grade on, cataracts in both eyes, blinding retinal tears in both eyes, eye surgeries that restored vision in my left eye but not the right one. Practical Implications: Poor vision for kids sucks, especially when a sibling complains about his vision getting really bad when it when from 20/10 to 20/15 during his freshman year in college while you can't read the blackboard from the front row and don't take up golf because if the ball goes more than about 20 feet you have no idea where it went. Always started a round picking up practice balls, and finished having left most of them for others to find along the way. When the eye doctor says to you, "If you're on a plane full of people, both pilots and all the other people pass out leaving you the only one who can fly the plane, let it crash. Chances for survival are better that way." And keep looking, beats the alternative.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It helps, another thing that can happen is that you can develop a lazy eye later on in life that can make it hard for the eyes to focus on the correct thing. It happened to me, but a few minutes of gaming with a patch from time to time and my vision went back to super crisp. I doubt that applies to most people, but it was a very clear and very easy way of addressing the problem and it's something worth asking about, if you're not notice much out of one eye or the other. Otherwise, I started working a job where I spent a lot of time looking at things at various distances and scanning around, my eyes went back to more or less as good as ever after that. That result won't apply to most people, but if the issue isn't the result of the eye itself being messed up, sometimes the brain and the related muscles are out of practice.

[@BritGirlJay]

Spent my childhood outside playing. If i wasn't playing 10-12 hours a day I would be inside reading. Still got myopia. Had lasik in my 30s (which didn't affect the astigmatism I also have). Now I have long sight due to age lol

[@Duskmelt]

Fantastic video! Very clear and concise explanation about the root cause of nearsightedness and what to do. Thanks doc!❤

[@thomasschellberg8213]

What is presented here is one theory, not backed up with hard empirical evidence, and a lot of people responding they agree. Some people may say their vision deteriorated with a lot of close work, but this may be selection bias with people who view this video.

[@otiebrown9999]

A great presentation! The Myopia Epidemic is created because the fundamental eye is highly responsive to its accommodation system. This creates initial myopia of -1 Diopters, 20/50, and a minus, used to FIX this normal situation, only makes the eye more negative.

[@TexasLiberTea]

This is really interesting! I'm sure the inuit diet changes that took place also impacted their myopia rates since their changing nutrition has also been linked to other disease conditions around that time. I'd be interested in hearing more about how nutrition impacts myopia.

[@MarkFredrickGravesJr]

This was my conclusion after seeing some studies myself back in 2017. I was worried because my eyesight had been perfect for years since my PRK, but I noticed things were starting to get blurry. I had since incorporated daily time outside, and my vision loss has stopped and I still have 20/20 vision

[@sd0753]

Ive always had some level of myopia. I hunt and fish so I spend a good amount of time outdoors but as a civil engineer I also spend a lot of time staring at a computer screen. After watching a documentary a couple years ago I decided to cut added sugar out of my diet. Over the course of about 6 months my vision corrected itself. Based on an eye exam I nearly have 20/20 vision again.

[@SavannahBurris]

I already have extreme myopia due to my extremely early birth and I get retinal scans yearly. Hearing this is a common problem is startling. That means my vision is probably getting worse faster than it would be otherwise.

[@midlife_minimalist]

I never had any myopia until I started working. Several years after starting work, I had to get a mild prescription. I never needed anything stronger and now it has gone away in my 50’s since I’m now farsighted. I get eye twitches now from eye fatigue because I still spend the day on the computer. I’ve always said that kids today are going to have terrible eye issues with all the screen time. I didn’t start using computers with regularity until post college.

[@curlyhairdudeify]

Presbyopia

[@Mallchad]

If you have eye problems look elsewhere please. I used computers over 90 hours a week if I have perfect eyesight then something else is clearly wrong

[@Fireneedsair]

So your single example is more important than all the others? Brilliant!🤣 @@Mallchad

[@Mallchad]

@@Fireneedsair No, I don't know of any experiment or study that proves that computers have any major effect on eyesight at all, only circadian rhythm. Not even a theoretical mechanism. What's your reasoning?

[@Fireneedsair]

@@Mallchad what's your reasoning? I don't have it so it can't be correct theory? Your personal experience forming your one lone opinion is not reasonable to me..

[@cricket555]

This is so true, and explains a lot. I have a friend who stayed indoors most of his childhood, and was technically blind by his mid 30's. The eye specialist told him, as a child he needed to be outdoors more for his early eye development.

[@NewbGamingNetworks]

I’m really happy someone’s made a video about this. I read the research on this, started to get outside more (hiking, biking, running) and my vision stopped worsening. I still do plenty of computer work, as it’s my job, but going outside appears to have mostly halted any worsening of my vision. The exercise is great too. One of the other big things one can do for their health!

[@SupraSav]

Thanks Doc! Appreciate you bringing this info to the world - for free.

[@Martin-sr6sq]

Till my late teens, my myopia was progressively getting worse. I was in front of the computer all the time and still am to this day. I started wearing other glasses that were like half of my prescription still sufficient to see everything clearly on the screen and kept wearing full prescription for driving etc. Guess what, twelve years later my eyesight hasn't changed a bit. Almost every optometrist will tell you to wear full-prescription glasses for everything and some will even scold you for not doing so. I am so grateful that I discovered that alternative way back in the day. So the best thing you can do is to not follow every piece of advice that optometrists tell you and look for different approaches.

[@matiaskok2457]

I am sure the optometrists would love to prescribe you a new pair of lenses 😁

[@PanicOregon]

i can tell you one source, it's people sitting to close to screen. I did this as a kid, and even as an adult. i periodically do it still, and when i do it too much i do notice it being fractionally harder to see further over time. Leaning back for a while it does clear up a bit. Kids are far worse about this now days, and have a habit of staring at a phone about 7-10 inches from their face. This is probably why you're finding children with sever myopia over such a short amount of time.

[@mamasquatch]

I agree with you completely.

[@friendly76]

I believe that this is more of a factor than anything else discussed in the video. Not to detract from the video, it's backed up by many studies. But I think screen time is a HUGE factor in this.

[@Mallchad]

no. 96 hours a week screen time 0 eye issues. my eyesight got worse when I started going out into the world more. please look elsewhere because I'd hate for people to lose their eyesight needlessly

[@PanicOregon]

@@Mallchad It explicitly is the source of my eyesight problems. I have sat infront a screen a majority of my life as a gamer, There is no other sufficient source for me to be nearsighted, other than a genetic disposition and i had better eye sight in the past. So genetic disposition is not the likely culprit. Not to mention the closer you get the screen, the much more worse it can get. There are people from my mothers generation and my generation that would get eye strainingly close to those old CRT TVs and try to make out the pixels. They have the worst Myopia from this particular source. The distance of objects you focus on is indeed a source of how your eyes will develop as you grow.

[@Mallchad]

@@PanicOregon Yeah, and do you eat food? are you exposed to ionizing radiation? do you breathe in fuel fumes? you can't just proclaim it's screens just because somebody pointed it out to you

[@twhip2002]

Great video and information! Thank you for sharing it!

[@rabokarabekian409]

For computer work, try dark themes and Micro$oft High Contrast settings (HC allows some color adjustments). I know of no reason to think this affects myopia, but eyestrain is not good. At 68 and on a computer nearly all my waking hours, I use every trick I can learn. Interesting to note that aircraft have almost always had white text on a black background, and the first PC displays were green text over black as are current military ground forces night displays.

[@Nidvex]

I can vouch that it is totally possible to reverse nearsightedness I'm still a computer nerd. It requires conscious effort to realize the problem and adjust accordingly. My nearsightedness improved during highschool as I consciously keep the computer screen from being too close and sitting in the back of the classroom so the board was further away. It's a simple lifestyle change that really helped with vision for me. Granted I definitely developed light sensitivity from not going outside much, but that's another matter lol. There's a very good reason why VR headsets are specifically listed as not for children, and why all screens have a recommended distance away from your face, and this is it.

[@fuglong]

Lol how am I supposed to sit far away or look far away when I'm blind af already

[@slitheen3]

How am I suppose to do well in school if I can't read the board? That's how I realized I needed glasses

[@otiebrown9999]

The ugly truth, is that the minus is not "a good idea". I appreciate your honesty @

[@LuthienNightwolf]

I spent a lot of time as a kid doing "near work", since I liked to draw. But this was also the 80's/90's so I balanced it with a lot of time outdoors, and I didn't start to develop eye problems til my 30's. Right about the time I started working from home and spending most of my time indoors, often staring at screens. My eyes are awful when I've been looking at my phone. Not only are things blurry if they're further away than about 5 feet but I also struggle to put the picture together, my eyes just want to cross. Its terribly annoying. I have noticed though that when I spent a week visiting my mom and avoided looking at my phone, sitting outside looking across the street several times a day, I didn't have this problem. Stuff was still slightly blurry but I could at least see without going crosseyed. I wonder if this is reversible for adults by using the same techniques.

[@jlcgu11]

Less strain on your eyes, the better.

[@TechCowboy]

I've been a programmer for almost 45 years. I already had high myopia in my early teens, (-10), but by my late 50's I'm up to -20.

[@welshie2007]

Yikes! You poor thing! Do you wear gp lenses to restrain it?

[@Neylena]

-20 my goodness, how have you continued programming all these years?

[@slavic_commonwealth]

I'm a teen and I have -10 rn... i'm scared of my future vision

[@marciomaiajr]

I'm high myopia too. Recently I had a retinal detachment on my left eye because of that. Be sure to avoid contact sports and martial arts. People with high myopia are more succeptible to retinal problems due to impact on the head.

[@Changed.User100]

@@slavic_commonwealthSame dude, I have the exact same eyesight as you -10.

[@shockwave4742]

I came to this video because I know a guy who says that without his contact lenses he can't even read the top of the eye chart at the doctor's office. From other things he's said it seems to me that even with his contact lenses he can't see as well as I can with my naked eyes. I feel disproportionately blessed.

[@akrusa]

Interesting. thanks! I would blame sugar, grains and seed oils for a big part of the problem also.

[@kathleenking47]

Baby boomers had these tjings. But didn't get myopia We need to GET CHILDREN OFF OF SCREENS and out playing

[@robertlewis20]

@kathleenking47 Children also need to stop consuming sugar, grains, and seed oils. The food industry is rotten and I would think that the standard American diet is to blame more than computer screens.

[@kathleenking47]

@@robertlewis20 this is easier, when parents control what kids eat HAVING DINNER at Kitchen table Desserts for Friday nights Or when company vones over However, for holidays (not UK) they could have some sugar

[@kathleenking47]

@@robertlewis20 kids in single digits still don't need to be on computer screens .not video games Teach them. Board games instead Checkers/chess eyc. Video games used to cost 2t fents to play

[@DavidGetling]

The trouble is that even when young people are outside many tend to walk along looking at a smartphone instead of looking into the distance. And there's also a tendency of many people to look down, instead of straight ahead, to avoid looking directly at others.

[@skypaver989]

I have severe vision problems, but I try to spend 2 hours outdoors every day. Either walking, hiking, or just hanging out by a creek or playing fetch with my dogs. I kind of joke with my friends that going outside will help a lot of their problems, but it's honestly good advice!

[@reall6229]

I’ve had this since I was about 8 and my eye doctor gave me what was still new and in testing contacts called Cornea Reshaping Lenses and they’ve really worked well like they’re supposed to! Instead of being at around a -9 (legally blind) like predicted, I’ve maintained around a -1 and don’t have to wear anything during the day!

[@NigelMelanisticSmith]

Just as an FYI, - 9 wouldn't be legally blind as it can still be corrected with glasses (at least in NA and EU)

[@SilverStarFour]

I had myopia since 8 years old. First time I tried getting contact lenses was when I was 13. The doctor told me I needed to wear hard contacts or else my vision would be near blind by the time I'm 30 years old due to how fast it was getting bad ... supposedly. I went to another doctor to get a second opinion and he told me that this other doctor was living in the stone age. He told me hard contacts are stone age technology and they have toric lenses to prevent this stuff from getting worse. Even then, he told me that I didn't need any of this anyway to begin with. So yeah I stopped listening to that fear mongering and listened to this other guy. Well here I am, 30 years old. I'm only at -4.25 and -3.00 and I never needed any of those lenses. I just use normal Acuvue Vita brand.

[@botamochi178]

I think as a child I naturally knew that the longer you spend looking at near objects you have a higher risk of getting near-sighted. (I’ve loved the sunlight dopamine and the retinal relaxation during far sighting.)

[@abeidiot]

I look at screens all day. my eyesight is perfect. though I was always active during childhood and it was pre internet. the early childhood stage might be more important for this

[@zardozmania]

There are so many negative impacts in our environment, including increased consumption of toxic foods, bad fats, lack of nutrients, this ALL contribute to this problem.

[@mithos789]

lack of nutrients is a big one.

[@CoolDude-yp9jt]

Halogen (very strong in terms of light output) , LEDs and HIDs (high intensity discharge) are way too bright. Anti glare mirrors and windshields are a thing.

[@davedesigning]

I'm a font designer and work on screens 12+ hours a day. Surprisingly, after starting font design and an initial decrease in my eyesight, the worsening myopia leveled out. The myopia didn't get better, but it didn't get that much worse either. A screen prescription makes it easier on the eyes.(focus about arm's length, tho IDK if this worsens the eyesight compared to regular prescription.). One screen is close, another is far. Besides this, in font design, you have a couple things that can keep eyesight from worsening. You have waterfalls, which put the words at different sizes. There's something called optical frequencies. In order to see the different optical frequencies at different sizes, you have to constantly go between hard and soft focus. I think that helps eliminate exhaustion. However, I don't blink enough. Definitely my dominant eye is doing much worse than my other. This is my experience with myopia and screens.

[@xfhghe]

I'm Asian and have a pre-disposition for poor eye sight. As a child when my vocabulary got good enough I developed a fondness for reading, I devoured novels between the age of 11-13. And my eye sight suffered. A school eye doctor recommended glasses and I got a pair. My father discouraged me from wearing them and I gave up novels. I'm now 65 and still have the 20/40-20/50 vision I had at 14.

[@zakestrada3560]

Audio books might be something for you to look into then

[@mloftus8618]

I’m pretty depressed, after 45 years of perfect vision, I woke up one day 5 months ago, looked at my phone, couldn’t read it…blurry, hurt to focus. Brushed it off, went to the store to get some items, and couldn’t read the labels on the smaller items. It didn’t go away after several days. I knew it was permanent. And I intuitively knew what caused it. For almost a decade now, I have spent most of my days staring at computer screens in various lighting conditions, and at home spent a lot of each evening on my tablet. And phone of course, as a sales rep. I use readers to see these thing’s perfectly clear now, which reminds me of what I used to see with my own eyes. I will be seeing an eye professional when I can afford it soon to get a true diagnosis, but I will say to everyone…do not stare at screens all day. Go outside, do stuff that doesn’t involve screens. Our lives are more and more tied to these devices, and it’s wreaking havoc it seems. It’s not fun to suddenly lose part of your visual acuity.

[@brendapiany8930]

Thank you for your advice I hope you will get professional help soon

[@Gardener7]

It might be something reversible if you get it treated soon enough.

[@user-te7wc7lh4r]

Sorry to hear that, sir.

[@klauseba]

well I've been starting at my computer screen for 8-16 hours a day since I was 10 years old and now 35. At 18 I did get glasses of -1 and about 5 years ago I corrected them to -1.5 but I wouldn't say it's that bad or it's getting worse.

[@mloftus8618]

@@klauseba - thx for the reply. That goes for all of you above as well. I also will admit that genetics plays a part. It’s a combination of both, the old nature/nurture debate. Where both play a substantial part in one’s physical status through life. But in my case, there are no vision issues among my parents and siblings. So I’m pretty sure it was more a result of my behavior with “blue light” screens if you will. My advice about screens is rooted in my youth. You’re 10 years younger than I am., so you likely don’t recall such things, but I remember growing up in the 80’s with just a landline phone, often with a loooooong cord! And if you wanted to play/hang out with your friends, you walked or rode a bike to their house and asked their parents if they could come out and play. We would marvel at the “cutting edge” tech of the Atari and 1st gen Nintendo consoles. Mario bros and Metroid and excite bike! Playing hide and seek, tag, basketball, building forts in the woods around the neighborhood…all wholesome important things that I feel the digital age has kept kids from experiencing these days. Now, we are exposed to screens very early on, by necessity, as that is where society and business has gone. I remember the old credit card mechanical devices that the vendor had to physically swipe a block across a 3 layer carbon copy slip, not knowing if the card was good for it or not until days later! Internet came along when I was in high school, and cell phones became somewhat regular in my college years…my first cell was bought for me by my then girlfriend in 2001, just as I graduated college. I am grateful to have grown up with the “old way” of things…it gives me the perspective. We functioned well enough without these digital devices for centuries, yet I acknowledge their value and importance for a growing society. There is always a major breakthrough each century or so…the Industrial Revolution, now the “Digital Revolution”. But things are going so fast it’s scary…AI is now a big thing, which is scary imo, and its putting people out of work. The world has changed immensely in my 40+ years. Call me old fashioned, but I believe there is great value in putting down the devices often and doing things the “old” way, especially for children. But I understand that it’s hard to do these days as the world now runs digitally. God I feel old! I’m not trying to preach to you, it’s just that your reply made me reminisce. I hope you have great success in life, and your vision stays put and doesn’t worsen. Thanks for letting me vent, if you will. Many blessings!

[@dariabrowczenko9682]

I have lost one of my eyes as a toddler and then at the age of 14 I started developing myopia on the healthy eye. We were suggested to get an orthokeratology lense as it has been shown to at least help stop the progress, and it did! From rapidly losing my eyesight, I got to a stable -1.25. 6 years later now, nothing has changed.

[@Marwell0709]

First 12-13 years of my life I had eagle like vision. Most of my free time I spent outside being physically active. Then my sight started to worsen. In a matter of few years it rapidly dropped to -3.25/-3.75. Around of age 25 it was -3.75/-4.25. I should mention that my mom has had myopia of -8 or so, my dads vision was good up to his late sixties. At 26 I started seriously working out following nutritionally rich diet. My sight improved back to -3.5/-3.75 and stopped. I'm almost 38, same -3.5/-375 and I spend around 50h a week staring at a PC screen(mostly leisure time), even though I still live an active live style and my job involves physically executable duties(heavy lifting + 12-15k steps per work day). In conclusion, physical activity is necessary for eye health and long exposures to monitors or staying indoors are not.

[@Gary_M]

I can't believe this started right when everybody started staring at screens all day...🤔

[@markfindlay8636]

You have a great point there.

[@knufyeinundzwanzig2004]

gotta be the genes 👨‍🔬 lmao

[@CPAPfriend]

This is a great video and it highlights the trend of re-discovering we're experiencing in modern day medicine; much of our treatment and cure appears to wait for us in our behaviours of the past. We've strayed too far away from ourselves.

[@FlockoftheGreyShepherd]

I'm seriously considering going to Canada to get Essilor Stellest glasses for my daughters while they are still young. One of the studies shows it reduces myopia in developing eyes by 67%.

[@devilsoffspring5519]

If you have bad eyesight in your family then it's genetic and will happen no matter what.

[@saginaw60]

More sunlight means more vitamin D, that does something like 200 things for health. Could that be good for eyes?

[@CalvinNoire]

No. If you see objects, in a short distance, for a very long time, then your eyes will degrade. simple as that.

[@statelyelms]

A reminder to take all comments with a grain of salt. We tend to think our experiences are representative of everyone, and tend to relate things to other things we've experienced, but we're often wrong. Please read published research instead of taking single experiences or "I think"s verbatim.

[@deep_space_dave]

So does wearing constant UV eye protection actually cause more myopia? I have been a long time migraine sufferer and now have what my optometrist calls visual snow so I regularly were UV eye protection to help prevent migraines. Could this cause my myopia to get worse over time? Very interesting video, thanks!

[@Fireneedsair]

UV exposure is terrible for the retina and eye in general. That is why the natural lens has some UV protection

[@Aquilenne]

You shouldn't be avoiding UV protection. The sunlight thing is specifically for children (as it's how their eyes get the signals to tell them to stop developing past where they should). In an adult, too much exposure is awful.

[@Pewt_teef]

Honestly this explains a lot, I had perfected vision before year 8 (around 13-4 years old) and my eyes started degrading FAST, I had since been getting my eyes rechecked every 6 months or so because I notice my current glasses prescription was becoming blurry again. This also was a period of time when Yknow COVID was around and I focused a lot of time on drawing and other near sighted tasks. My prescriptions usually go up one level each time I get tested. Now nearly in year twelve, I can’t go anywhere without glasses otherwise I get awful headaches and even have trouble reading up close. Additionally I have to get retested again but I’ve been holding off due to costs.

[@La1hood]

School makes us blind

[@Pewt_teef]

@@La1hood prolly less from school for me, more that i do alot of digital art or use technology. Around covid i couldnt do much so I just did whatever entertained me haha which just so happened to be short range activities. but i totally know what you are getting at

[@adrianteiusanu]

This is actually huge information, all countries should take this in consideration and implement more outdoor activities, even for adults not only for children.

[@rabokarabekian409]

anecdotal witness data: when I first changed from work on construction sites to full time desk work, every hour I would stare at "magic Pictures" for about five minutes and then walk around the outside of the building. Relief was significant. Also, sitting or standing in one place should always be relieved by rest and stretch breaks. (I also had horrible elbow pain until I studied and applied ergonomics to desk work).

[@Charvo75]

Sedentary jobs or tasks where you have to look at something constantly sucks for one's health.

[@DrDavidThor]

Those books were great. My wife got them in the divorce. There's stuff on line but I'd rather get those books and do them in sunlight.

[@sen-mik]

What are “magic Pictures”? Optical illusion pics?

[@DrDavidThor]

Yes. In physical books. I lost mine with the divorce a decade ago as they seem to have gone with the house, so I can't remember the name of them. But they did feel quite useful in relaxing the vision. Everything about vision in the modern world is about relaxing.@@sen-mik

[@Dhalin]

So, a bit of history about me: I'm a pre-diabetic whose a1c hovers in the 6.5-6.8 range last I had it checked a couple years ago. I was diagnosed with myopia when I went to get my driver's license when I was a teen (I'll be 44 in March). I got my glasses (which I only wear for driving as my eyesight is good enough anywhere else), and all was fine. 8 years down the line, it was time to get my eyes re-examined and get the prescription on the glasses renewed. I have been, ever since my teenage years, a computer guy. I spend most of my non-work time sitting in front of a computer, a monitor is never more than 2 feet from my face for 80% of my non-work days. I don't do a whole lot on phones, though. I have one, but I only use it for a few minutes here-and-there. So anyhow, when I went in to get my new glasses... the same doctor who had done my test the first time, said that the prescription on the left eye's lens was _too strong_ which means that the eye had improved, and indeed, I had a harder time making out the eye chart with the old glasses than without using the left eye. The right eye was almost unchanged. Before, both eyes were almost the same, but in 8 years, the left eye _improved_ on its own by a significant margin. Now, I don't know if this is truly the reason, but... as a video gamer and general computer person, I can tell you that most video games have more relevant information on the left side of the screen than they do the right, so one is usually focused on the left more often than the right, and the left eye is doing more of the work than the right one. In fact as I sit here typing this, if I close my right eye everything is normal. If I close my left eye, the screen actually looks just slightly blurry.

[@bellonasservant4496]

interesting, im also a gamer who spents way to much time looking at screens and my left eye is 0.75 diopter better than my right eye. I never really thought about it. But in my case i always had rooms with a window on the left side. So my left eye got much more sunlight than my right. So that could be the reason for that too.

[@mgsterling2010]

Good studies. Thanks for digging and sharing.

[@wintersprite]

I’m 37 and have myopia on top of having Amblyopia and Strabismus in my left eye (I went cross-eyed as a baby, had a bilateral surgery that was successful on my right eye, had a second surgery on my left eye, and my left eye still wanted to be stubborn). Luckily with my myopia, it’s still on the mild side (between 1 and 2 on each side). My right eye does most of the “seeing” due to the Amblyopia (my brain basically suppresses most of the input from my left eye when both eyes are open, and only takes the peripheral from the left). I lack depth perception.

[@otiebrown9999]

Yes, in engineering science, it is exclusively produced by long term close work. No scientific doubt. Of course, at 20/50 it is preventable. Takes great scientific intelligence to do it!

[@ellaraystyle]

Thank you for this video! Very important topic, loved the studies you showed with the school who was able to decrease Myopia with more and consistent outdoor time.

[@zeekierstead9696]

I didn't look into my high myopia until recently (I'm 21) and I had no idea how at risk I am for terrible eye conditions! I was born at about a -11.00 or -12.00. I tripped over a very obvious toy and fell on (and broke) my younger sister's arm when I was 1.5 years, so thats when I finally got glasses 😂 I spent so much time outside as a kid, but didn't see much improvement. I'm down to a -9.00 now, thankfully, and have never really gotten worse. But now I'm so anxious to develop something like retinal tears or glaucoma 😢

[@Changed.User100]

That sounds super unbelievable. Being born with THAT high prescription means you have pathological or degenerative myopia which continues to get worse as you age, it wouldnt even be fathomable to lower your eyesight. In fact it should worsen severely as you grow up.

[@zuluku]

A lot of my family members have myopia. I do not. I also regulate the brightness of all my computer screens and do not strain my eyes where I can with lighting. ALSO I would like to note I took a nutrition class that mentioned how the eskimos have a higher diet with omega 3 with the hunter life style. Which can also help with a variety of things including eyesight. This video was highly interesting though as I want to ensure that I do not develop myopia and hopefully help others from developing it. I just feel like they won't take me seriously when I give this advice. I wish it was more well-known.