Those with myopia see nearby objects clearly but distant objects appear blurred. With myopia, the eyeball is too long, or the cornea is too steep, so images are focused in the vitreous inside the eye rather than on the retina at the back of the eye. The opposite defect of myopia is hyperopia or "farsightedness" or "long-sightedness" — Normal vision. This is where the cornea is too flat or the eye is too short..
Mainstream ophthalmologists and optometrists most commonly correct myopia throu
gh the use of corrective lenses, such as glasses or contact lenses. It may also be corrected by refractive surgery, such as LASIK. The corrective lenses have a negative optical power (i.e. are concave) which compensates for the excessive positive diopters of the myopic eye. In some cases, pinhole glasses are used by patients with low-level myopia. These work by reducing the blur circle formed on the retina.
st worldwide, affecting 28% of school children at the start of their primary education and 70% of those completing university education. Four of 10 adult Chinese people older than 40 years old have myopia. Of greater concern is that a substantial proportion of Singaporeans have high myopia, usually defined as a refraction of -6.0 D or higher. One in 10 adults has high myopia, compared to 1 in 50 in most Western populations. There is also increasing evidence that both prevalence and severity of myopia may be increasing.
More and more children suffer from myopia
GUESSED CAUSES
Racial differences in myopia prevalence between different countries and, in Singapore, between different racial groups, point towards a genetic predisposition to myopia. In a recent study in Singapore, higher rates of myopia were seen in Chinese compared to Indian and Malay school children, despite controlling for education. This points to a strong genetic role.
Besides, compared with other countries, several environment risk factors for myopia, including higher educational attainment, higher socioeconomic status and high amount of near-work activities, are well-developed in children and adult populations.
We are now living in an environment that all you see everyday are nearby. Sitting in front computers. Buildings all around. For small kids, they are spending more time than before on close objects - books, video games, TV, and even computers—the apparent improving standard of living actually gave rise to diminishments in quality of life!
There are new tech to cure myopia, such as laser eye surgery. However, it is of high-risk. True myopia is irreversible. What we need most is prevention. Myopia affects a significant proportion of people of all ages in Singapore. Tackling this problem will necessarily require a 
multi-disciplinary approach involving laboratory scientists, clinicians, ophthalmologists and other public healthcare providers.
Zhujie (27)
