Myopia - a disease of the 21st century

According to statistics, every third person on Earth suffers from myopia. This pathology of refraction of the eye often manifests itself as a decrease in visual acuity into the distance.Myopic people see weak objects weakly, but objects that are located at close range can see well.In the world of medicine, short-sightedness is usually called myopia. In the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), this disease has been assigned code H 52.1.

What it is?

Myopia (in the lane. from Ancient Greek -"Screw up your eyes")Is a visual defect in which the image is formed not on the retina of the eye, as it is normal, but in front of it.

With myopia, a person, when looking at distant objects, usually squints, as a fuzzy, blurred image appears on the retina of the eye.

Types of myopia

In ophthalmology it is customary to classify myopia into the following types:

• Congenital myopia.It is rare and is caused by abnormalities of the eyeball in the fetus.
• High myopia. This is a form of myopia, the degree of which exceeds 5 diopters.
• Combination myopia.It is characterized by a small degree of myopia, in which the refractive power of the optical system of the eye and the length of its optical axis are not combined, which reduces the refraction of vision.
• False myopia.It arises with an increase in the tone of the ciliary muscle and disappears when the spasm passes.
• Transient myopia (variant of false myopia).It can occur against the background of the underlying illness of the body (for example, diabetes) or due to the taking of certain medications.
• Night myopia.Appears with a lack of light and disappears when the illumination increases.
• Axial myopia.Occurs when the optical axis of the eye is long.
• Complicated myopia.Accompanied by anatomical changes in the eye, which eventually lead to loss of vision.
• Progressing myopia.Characterized by a gradual increase in its degree due to stretching the posterior part of the eye.
• Refractive (optical) myopia.It is caused by excessive refraction of the optical system of the eye.

Degrees of myopia

Specialists distinguish 3 degrees of myopia:

1. weak(up to 3 diopters);
2. mean(from, 5 to 6 diopters);
3. high(more than 6 diopters).

Causes

Myopia is congenital or acquired.Congenital myopia is rare, but, as a rule, it is complicated, that is, it is accompanied by pathologies of eye development and poor vision.Sometimes it is amenable to correction, but there are cases when congenital myopia is not cured. The acquired myopia occurs for a number of reasons, it can progress, leading to further deterioration of vision.

Myopia is considered progressive if the vision is reduced by one or more dioptres per year.

Also, myopia can be caused by:

• spasm of accommodation (at a young age);
• keratoconus (change in the shape of the cornea);
• displacement of the lens (with trauma);
• sclerosis of the lens (in old age).

Often the disease develops with the increased growth of the eyeball, so the progression of myopia is mainly observed among young children. In this case, the process will stabilize approximately in 18-20 years.

The development of myopia is facilitated by intense visual work at close range. This is the reason for the frequent deterioration in the eyesight of children during their primary school years.Excessive stress stimulates the development of the child's false myopia, and in the absence of timely treatment, the false form of the disease can go into the true.

In recent years, due to the use of display equipment (computers, mobile phones, e-books, etc.), there has been an increase in the number of patients with spasmodic accommodation.Many ophthalmologists believe that prolonged presence of spasm promotes an increase in the size of the eyeball, which leads to myopia of the eye.

Physiological myopia does not always lead to a significant decrease in visual acuity in the future. However, if the process does not stabilize and the eyeball continues to grow, a myopic disease occurs.

Myopia can intensively progress in students (usually against the backdrop of maximum exposure to vision), in parallel with the growth of their body.Myopia of a high degree is a serious disease that leads to pathological changes in the vascular and reticular membranes of the eye. It can lead to such complications as:

• retinal disinsertion;
• glaucoma;
• complete loss of vision.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

The early onset of myopia may signal an increased risk of developing a high degree of disease.The first signs of myopia:

• screwing up;
• low inclination of the head;
• the desire to sit closer to the TV;
• pain in the eyes (often occurs when working at close range);
• headache.

It is extremely important to identify problems with vision in a timely manner. It is desirable for a child to check the visual acuity every year from the moment of starting school. If a reduction is detected, treatment should be started immediately.

Diagnose myopia can be an ophthalmologist.Depending on the degree of complication of the disease, the doctor can prescribe the following types of examination of the eye:

• visometry;
• perimetry;
• skiascopy;
• refractometry;
• ophthalmometry;
• ophthalmoscopy;
• echography.

Treatment

Myopia is not a priori cured, but amenable to correction.

Methods for correcting myopia

Today, ophthalmologists successfully apply 7 conventional methods of correcting myopia:

• glasses;
• contact lenses;
• laser vision correction;
• refractive lens replacement (lenseectomy);
• implantation of phakic lenses;
• radial keratotomy;
• keratoplasty (corneal plastic surgery).

Depending on the degree of the disease, a person may experience a constant or temporary need for glasses (for example, when reading or need to see the subject at a distance, while watching TV or movies, while working at a computer or while managing by car).The strength of spectacle glasses and contact lenses is denoted by a negative number. Modern surgery can reduce or completely eliminate the need to use glasses or contact lenses.More often such operations are carried out with the help of special lasers.

In recent years, an innovative technology for correction of myopia - photorefractive keratoectomy (PRK), which uses excimer lasers with a wavelength of 193 nm. The best results are obtained with myopia up to 6.0 diopters.At higher degrees of myopia, it is recommended to use the TransFRK technique to exclude the possibility of regression of the disease.

Laser keratomileusis is a combined laser-surgical operation to correct not only myopia, but also hyperopia, as well as astigmatism.Such an operation is recognized today as the most high-tech and most convenient for the patient, since is painless and allows in a short time to return the maximum possible vision without glasses and contact lenses.With the help of laser-surgical intervention, correction of myopia of a high degree (up to -13 Dpt) is possible.

Correction - does not mean the complete cure of the eye disease.

Correction only allows using the laser to compensate for myopia by changing the profile of the upper layer of the cornea. A laser beam controlled by a computer makes an incision in the upper layer of the cornea and for several changes the optical surface of the cornea, causing the image to focus precisely on the the retina.Then the incised flap returns to its place, avoiding damage to the upper layer of the cornea.There were cases of side effects, one of them - the destruction of the vitreous body.To minimize the risks before the operation, a thorough examination is necessary.

Complications

In case of untimely treatment or illiterate correction of myopia, progression of the disease is possible, as well as the occurrence of such complications as:

• formation of staphylitis sclera(protrusion);
• dystrophy;
• hemorrhage on the retina and in the vitreous body;
• retinal detachment.

Prevention

Recently, the rapidly growing prevalence of myopia among young people in Asian countries (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore), where 80-90% of schoolchildren are subject to the disease, is observed.In the US and European countries the figures are much lower, but they are also high (20-50%).In Russia, more than 50% of graduates of secondary schools and gymnasiums have now recorded cases of myopic refraction.

Thus, the prevention of myopia development today is of paramount importance.

This pathology leads to a decrease in vision in working age, which leads to extremely negative consequences.

As the main preventive measure, an annual examination by an eye specialist is recommended to determine the onset of a decrease in vision and timely correction of myopia.

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Atrophy of the optic nerve.

Do you need glasses to work at a computer here.

Chronic uveitis: http://eyesdocs.ru/zabolevaniya/uveit/kakie-metody-lecheniya-sushhestvuyut.html

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conclusions

Myopia or myopia is a disease that is important to identify at an early stage. Watch your eyesight, look at the behavior of the child while reading or viewing the subject at a remote distance, in time to notice the disease and begin treatment.Do not run myopia, at the first signs of it immediately go to the ophthalmologist. Myopia of a high degree can lead to complications and a complete loss of vision. Remember this.