What is myopia?

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Myopia is a common problem with eye focus that can affect vision at all distances, but particularly things that are very far away. It can be easily corrected with glasses or contact lenses. 

Vision with myopia

Myopia is a problem with focus. The eyeball length is longer, which means that the light comes into focus in front of the retina instead of behind, causing things to look blurry.

How many people are affected?

Myopia is one of the most prevalent eye disorders. High myopia is associated with diseases that increase the risk of serious and irreversible vision loss, such as retinal detachment, subretinal neovascularisation, cataracts and glaucoma.  

Different studies have confirmed that the prevalence of this refractive error varies depending on race and geographical region, and also point to an increase in the prevalence of myopia in the last 50 years. The problem is particularly pronounced in prosperous industrialised areas in East Asia. The probability of a child in our environment having myopia varies with age. At 12 years, it is around 8.3%, and 17.7% at 17 years. 

According to estimations of the European population, in 2010 there were 227.2 million people with myopia in the whole of Europe. 

Substantiated information by:

Jorge Peraza Nieves
Mireia Hereu

Published: 21 October 2020
Updated: 21 October 2020

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