VDU glaucoma link gets wide attention

The aftermath of this week's umpteenth media scare story, linking eye disease to VDU use, is at least likely to boost the number of people considering booking an eye examination. Initial responses to the research from the profession Ð which provoked such headlines as 'Screen-staring could give you glaucoma' Ð were sceptical, especially as the sample was taken from Far East populations in which there is a high prevalence of myopia Ð a known risk factor for glaucoma. The findings by Dr Masayuki Tatemichi and his team from Toho University, Japan revealed a proportion of those sampled had suspected glaucoma. The researchers tested the vision of 10,000 workers from four different large companies in Japan. Following the completion of questionnaires, the sample was divided by the researchers into groups of 'light', 'medium' or 'heavy' users of computers. In total 522, or 5 per cent of the sample were found to have visual field abnormalities, with a third of this group suspected of having glaucoma. Tatemichi found those classified as heavy computer users were more likely to have hypermetropia or suffer from myopia. See Comment page 11