Understanding High Myopia: Reasons, Risks, and Treatment Plans
Understanding High Myopia: Reasons, Risks, and Treatment Plans
Blog Article
Introduction:
High myopia, pathological or degenerative myopia, is extremely poor nearsightedness beyond that most people naturally achieve for refractive error. Normal myopia is not especially challenging to treat with eyeglasses or contact lenses, while high myopia is characterized by more subtle and sometimes incremental changes in the eyes which drastically impair future vision.
What is High Myopia?
Myopia or nearsightedness is an eye disorder in which the far objects are not focused so well because light tends to enter in front of retina instead of retina. Long eyeball is most commonly responsible. High myopia is often a refractive error of -6.00 diopters or worse, or axial length (measured from front to back of eyeball) of 26 mm or longer.
Mild or medium myopia is just an eye vision disorder, but severe myopia is eye abnormal shape which will be a risk factor for late vision-loss disease in the future.
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Causes and Risk Factors
There are some potential causes and risk factors of high myopia:
Genetics: Hereditary risk in patients who develop myopia, particularly high myopia.
Early Onset: Children with early onset myopia are at increased risk for developing adult high myopia.
Environmental Factors: Increased television and computer screen viewing, less outdoor time, and excessive near work (computers or reading) have all been found to have increased prevalence rates of myopia worldwide.
Ethnicity: Some ethnic groups, particularly of East Asian descent, have high rates of developing high myopia owing to interaction between environment and heredity.
Associated Complications and Risks
High-myopia is more than an elevated prescription—it can lead to disastrous ocular complications from retina and other ocular tissue elongation and thinning:
Retinal Detachment: Thinned and torn retina secondary to elongated eye, followed by detachment, an eye emergency.
Myopic Macular Degeneration (MMD): Delamination of the macula, or the eye's vision center in the retina, can lead to irreversible vision loss.
Glaucoma: Highly myopic patients are susceptible to glaucoma, an eye condition that affects the optic nerve.
Cataracts: High myopia is often accompanied by cataract development in young age and rapid cataract growth.
Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV): Inappropriate vascular growth within the posterior segment of the retina with resulting hemorrhage, scarring, and central vision loss.
Diagnosis and Monitoring
High myopia diagnosis is with a thorough eye examination using
Refraction test: to measure the degree of nearsightedness.
Measurement of axial length: either with an ultrasound or with optical biometry.
Dilated fundus examination: for retinal examination and to determine if a degenerative sign or other complication exists.
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT): for close-up cross-sectional retinal photographs.
Routine eye check-up is essential with early detection and follow-up for complications.
Management and Treatment
No treatment at all, but several methods of coping with the condition and preventing complications:
- Correcting Vision:
Contact Lenses and Glasses: Must be used daily and corrects eyesight but won't stop advancement or complications.
Specialty Lenses: Reshaping lenses every night (orthokeratology) or rigid gas permeable lenses may assist with progression control.
- Control of Myopia in Children
Atropine Eye Drops: Low-dose atropine eye drops retarded myopia progression in children.
Multifocal Lenses: Multifocal glasses or contact lenses featuring a multi-point focal area can prevent progression.
Increased Out-of-Doors Time: Increased time out doors during childhood has been found to decrease risk of high myopia.
- Surgery
Refractive Surgery: Eye and LASIK operations are not generally ideal for high myopia because there's added risk with thin cornea.
Implantable Collamer Lenses (ICLs): Second option for laser surgery candidates.
Vitreo-retinal Surgery: Used as a last resort if complications like retinal detachment or CNV.
Active management and lifestyle modification are living with high myopia:
Regular Eye Test: Active follow-up will detect early change or complication.
Safety Eyewear: Protective glasses while playing sport or dangerous habit will prevent trauma, more dangerous in high myopes.
Conclusion:
Healthy Lifestyle: Healthy balanced diet rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins maintains eyes healthy.
Decreasing Screen Time: Breaking up screen time (20-20-20 rule: view something 20 feet away for 20 seconds, every 20 minutes) can reduce eye strain.
High myopia is a complex eye condition that requires careful monitoring and lifelong management. Despite science and medicine, knowledge among the masses and early detection are the strongest determinants. For susceptible individuals—particularly children—regular physical outdoor activities, limiting viewing time, and regular eye checks can prove to be a strong determinant to having healthy eyes in the future. Report this page