SAN ANTONIO — It is a new word in our vocabulary: Screenagers, or teenagers staring at a screen from the moment they wake up until they go to bed.
While there is debate over how the habit is affecting their lives, there is growing evidence it's affecting their eyesight.
When someone has myopia or is nearsighted, objects that are close to the eye are crystal clear, but the further away they move away from the eye the more out of focus the objects become.
"In the last few decades as we've had more close-up reading demands and computers, and close-up screen time, myopia in developed countries has increased dramatically," said Monica Allison, an optometrist at Stone Oak Vision Source. "It's becoming one of our biggest eye problems that we deal with."
In a normal eye, light focuses on the retina, the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. With myopia, the eye is too long and focuses light in front of the retina.
"If children are inside doing close-up activities and never going outside and letting their eyes look at outside things, that's been shown to increase myopia," Allison said.
But myopia isn't the only danger screenagers face. According to a study done by the Université de Montréal, high amounts of myopia significantly multiplies the risk of major ocular health disorders. Patients with myopia are six times more likely of developing cataracts, 21 times more likely of experiencing retinal tearing and 40 times more likely at developing glaucoma.
"We are really trying to get on board and to prevent things from getting worse, because it will help out a lot later in life with less glaucoma, less retinal tears, less problems, less dependence on glasses and contact lenses," said Allison, who is not only informed about myopia as a doctor, but as a patient too. "I was very nearsighted, and I was concerned when I was in optometry school. I always wanted to find something could this have been prevented. Could this have been stopped? So I became interested in orthokeratology."
She managed to stop her own myopia, and hopes screenagers can too.
