Bill Harvey: Chewing it over

Another week and another new piece of research relating to myopia.

There has long been a suggested association between myopia and the amount of near work undertaken. This has often been part of the explanation of why there has been such a dramatic increase in myopia prevalence in the Far East, with a genetic predisposition being enhanced by a rapid move from an agricultural to an urban and education-based society. Questions arise, though, as always in such multifactorial conditions, as to how much an influence has and whether it may be blurred with other factors, such as binocular and socioeconomic status.

Bristol Medical School research out this week showed that for every additional year spent in education, there was an increase in myopic refractive error of ‑0.27DS. This suggests a UK university graduate with 17 years in education would, on average, be one dioptre more myopic than an individual who left school at 16 with 12 years of education. ‘This difference in myopia severity is enough to blur vision for driving below legal standards,’ claimed the authors. Let’s hope this stimulates continued involvement in myopia research rather than justify the ever-constant threats to higher education.