Comment by ubercow13
4 years ago
Thank you, this is interesting!
>I have a serious question: did you not come across any of this research?
I hadn't seen the more recent developments on these preventative glasses, no. However I don't tend to give too much credence to individual studies especially when reported through mainstream media. You see such studies and articles supporting all kinds of contradictory conclusions all the time.
Wikipedia isn't a reliable source, but it is kind of useful as a quick overview of current ideas on a topic. Skimming the article,
>The near work hypothesis, also referred to as the "use-abuse theory" states that spending time involved in near work strains the intraocular and extraocular muscles. Some studies support the hypothesis, while other studies do not.[3] While an association is present, it is not clearly causal.[3]
and
>There is preliminary evidence that the protective effect of outdoor activities on the development of myopia is due, at least in part, to the effect of long hours of exposure to daylight on the production and the release of retinal dopamine.[15][29][30][31]
So, immediately it seems like we aren't so certain as you suggest we are what the cause of myopia is. And your assertion that "..exposure to light brightness has nothing to do with myopia" is directly contradicted here. And from a cited recent (2019) review paper [1]
> Huang et al. highlighted, in a recent systematic review and meta-analysis, that near-work activities were related with higher odds of myopia (odds ratio 1.14; 95% CI 1.08–1.20) and that the odds of myopia increased by 2% (OR: 1.02; 95% CI 1.01–1.03) for every one diopter-hour more of weekly near work [110].
> In contrast, there are studies reporting that near work is not associated with faster rates of myopia progression [85, 111–113].
> Therefore the relationship between near work and myopia is complex and needs to be investigated.
> On the other hand, several recent epidemiological studies suggest that greater time spent outdoors might have a protective effect against myopia development and progression [114–116].
So, though I am far from being an expert after reading these few articles, they all seem to strongly contradict your assertion that "It's not unknown", and also that the research all agrees with your points.
> The near work hypothesis, also referred to as the "use-abuse theory" states that spending time involved in near work strains the intraocular and extraocular muscles.
Goodness Wikipedia, this isn't the theory at all. It has nothing to do with muscle strain. We know for a fact that in youth, the eyeball grows longer when it's overfocusing (especially in fovea), and stops growing when things are blurry. That's how it maintain focus as you grow and age. This isn't a theory, it's how the eye works. There are already multiple types of technology that successfully slow and stop myopia based on this principle, as listed in my post.
The mechanism of outdoor light is just a hypothesis without known direct link. It may be related but there's no direct evidence for it yet.