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

In this video, Dr. Michael Chua reviews the current myopia epidemic and the best evidence-backed ways to prevent and treat myopia.

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
2:07 What is myopia?
3:18 Scope of the Problem
4:20 Genetic and Environmental Factors
9:06 Country-Wide Interventions
10:42 Other Treatment Options for Myopia

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#MichaelChuaMD #myopia #myopiacontrol

MEDICAL ADVICE DISCLAIMER: All content in this video and description were created for informational purposes only. The content is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with questions you have regarding health conditions. Accessing, viewing or reading this content does not create a physician-patient relationship between you and the author.

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[angelkat]

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

[crankpatate]

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

[eli]

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.

[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…

[kh-wgbt]

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

[stevenjbernard]

Ever since I started spending more time inside watching YouTube 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.

[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.

[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.

[nekg]

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.

[LauraB.]

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.

[stephenriggs]

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.

[jpt]

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.

[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.

[planetmoving]

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.

[TheGhostInTheMachine-cx]

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.

[JackOfAllTrades]

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.

[ashleeminnow]

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.

[GustavKampp]

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

[heatherjones]

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).

[jacobheinz]

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.