June 17, 2021
In an interview to Expresso, Pedro Menéres, member of the Board of the Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology, talks about Confinement and Myopia.
Confinement has opened doors to myopia. Incidence has soared by 40% in children and young people
The scenario is cloudy and the World Health Organization estimates that half the global population will be myopic in 2050. Speaking to Expresso, ophthalmologist Pedro Menéres, member of the board of the Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology, warns of the growth of myopia in degree and the increased incidence of this type of refractive error at increasingly early ages.
Between 2019 and 2020, cases of myopia among children and young people, aged from five to 18, soared. This is just another of the side effects of the pandemic. After all, the average incidence of this type of refractive error increased by 40% during the confinement, a period that opened the door to an already blurred trend caused by the scarcity of natural light that the eyes need so much.
Entrenched at home, with schools and parks locked for months, isolation has set in among the youngest, focused even more on screens, often accompanied in solitude by computers and smartphones, while they have lost connection with outdoor activities, being deprived of an essential dose of sun exposure that, when well dosed, can prevent retinal degenerative problems.
This is the conclusion of a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), based on recent research carried out by different universities in China, Canada and several Latin American countries. The results of these investigations, published in the scientific journal "The Lancet", converge on one point: the main reason for the proliferation of this pathology during the last year has been the lack of sunlight, a carrier of dopamine for the retina, a substance that prevents the eyeball from becoming longer. And in the future, the scenario could get much bleaker: the WHO estimates that half of the global population will be myopic by 2050.
Speaking to Expresso, ophthalmologist Pedro Menéres warns that "removing hours outdoors to children and young people - who are growing and it's when myopia has more potential for variation - certainly has a great risk" that "still has to be measured in the long term". What is certain is that, he adds, "we are seeing a growth in myopia in degree and an increase in incidence at an earlier and earlier age".
For the director of the Ophthalmology Service of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto the growth in prevalence "was already being felt before the confinement" with "an increase in the incidence of myopia during recent years in western societies".
It is thought, says the specialist, that "this tendency is related to short distance activities, at the computer, with greater intensity". However, he acknowledges, "with the pandemic there is the fear that it may worsen, since activities with less external light condition this probability" of developing myopia.
The member of the board of the Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology advises "families to take care of children and young people who are at greater risk, to encourage the use of outdoor activities and reduce exposure to screens".
