September 18, 2018 - Nearsightedness (Myopia)
Hey folks, it’s Dr. Sam and I want to pose a question to you today – how do you think our ancestors used their eyes in a world without corrective lenses?
This is the subject of a new book written by Dr. Ivan Schwabe. He’s a professor of ophthalmology at UC Davis in California. And the title of the book is called Evolution’s Witness: How the Eyes Evolved. In this book, Dr. Schwab spotlights that our myopia (nearsightedness) is increasing and one of the main reasons why is because of all the close work we’re doing with written texts and digital devices. This is validated by a paper that the American of American Academy of Ophthalmology published, where researchers predicted that 4.7 billion people will be nearsighted by the year 2050.
In a similar vein, a study done many years ago by Francis Young showed similar results. He took a group of Eskimos and he educated them. Nearly all of them became nearsighted after going through the educational process, which required long hours of working with and looking at nearby written materials.
Why is Nearsightedness Becoming More Common?
On a behavioral level, when we tunnel our vision and narrow our focus, we put all of our attention on the macula, which is the center part of the retina. When we tunnel our vision, what happens on a systemic level is that we increase our epinephrine and cortisol levels – our adrenals are working really hard – this is a stress response.
And while the science on the topic is limited, this increased stress being put on the macula may play a role in the rising prevalence of macular degeneration. Certainly, within my own private practice, I have observed relieving ocular stress as a key component for preventing, slowing, and even reversing many chronic eye diseases, including macular degeneration.
So if we rewind and compare our lifestyles to that of our ancestors, we use far more technology, are exposed to more toxins in our environment, and many of us have a diet that is far too high in inflammatory carbohydrates and processed foods. In comparison, our ancestors spent much of their time outside looking at far distances, did not spend extended time on digital devices, and had a largely plant-based diet that was also rich in proteins and healthful fats. So without a doubt, they were doing fantastic things in terms of their eye health, so by and large myopia was a much less common issue than it is today.
My advice would be to eat a plant-based rainbow diet that is high in healthful fats and proteins, make sure you get 30 minutes of sunlight every day and practice taking the “big view”. Open up your peripheral vision and accept the whole environment around you. Give your eyes a break from focusing on one nearby object. After all, it’s our peripheral vision that gives us depth perception, facilitates cognitive processing – including our memory – and helps us with our orientation and our balance.
So that’s my message for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in. And until next time take good care.