In today's video, we delve into the escalating epidemic of myopia, a condition affecting vision clarity, that has seen a dramatic rise in rates from 4.5% to over 21% among individuals aged 5-15 years in India over the past two decades. We explore the common misconception that near-sightedness is solely due to genetics or growth factors, revealing the significant role our environment and lifestyle choices play in this widespread issue. With predictions suggesting that by 2050, half the world's population could be near-sighted, we investigate the true causes behind this surge, discuss preventative measures, and finally address the age-old warning from our parents about watching too much TV. Join us as we uncover the truth about myopia, its implications, and what we can do to combat this growing epidemic.
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00:00Namaskar, friends.
00:01I remember my parents used to tell me as a kid,
00:04don't watch too much TV.
00:05You'll ruin your eyes.
00:06You'll get glasses.
00:08And sadly,
00:09do you know the truth of the day?
00:11I got glasses.
00:12Millions of kids got glasses.
00:14Kids become nearsighted.
00:15There are so many nearsighted kids these days.
00:17Children are having trouble seeing things that are far away.
00:20Nearsightedness increased in kids.
00:22If your far-sightedness is weak,
00:24it means you have nearsightedness.
00:27In scientific terms,
00:28Myopia.
00:29Myopia.
00:31It's called Myopia.
00:32And the data about it is very shocking.
00:35In India, if we talk about the age group of 5-15 year olds,
00:39the rate of Myopia used to be 4.5% 20 years ago.
00:43Today, this number has crossed 21%.
00:46It means that 1 out of every 5 people living in the country
00:48has glasses.
00:49Today, the situation is such that
00:51Myopia is considered an epidemic.
00:54And a prediction has been made that by 2050,
00:57every person living in the world will have glasses.
01:00Why is all this happening?
01:02If you already have glasses,
01:04can you fix your eyes in a natural way?
01:07And if you don't have glasses,
01:09how can you save your eyes in the world of smartphones?
01:13What are the real reasons behind Myopia?
01:15In today's video, friends,
01:16the answers to all these questions are known
01:18by understanding the latest scientific studies.
01:27Myopia
01:30To understand this topic in depth,
01:32first, we need to understand, friends,
01:33how the eyes of humans work.
01:36Here, on the screen, you can see a very simple diagram of the eye.
01:39A human eye basically works like a convex lens.
01:43You must have read about convex lenses in school.
01:46These are the lenses that converge the incoming light rays at a point.
01:51At a focus point, all the light rays gather
01:53after passing through the lens.
01:55The focal point in a normal human eye
01:58is the back part of the eye,
02:00which is called the retina.
02:01If your eyes are working properly,
02:04the light that comes into your eyes
02:06first hits the cornea, which is the outermost layer.
02:10Then, passing through the pupil,
02:11it goes through a lens,
02:13which is a lens inside the human eye.
02:15An optic nerve is connected to this retina
02:18which sends signals to our brain.
02:20With the help of which, we can actually see.
02:22Now, an interesting fact here is that
02:24you might think that the work of bending the light rays
02:27is done by the lens inside our eyes.
02:29But our cornea does more work than the lens, actually.
02:33About 70% of the bending of light in our eyes
02:36is done by the cornea.
02:37After that, the lens does a little fine-tuning.
02:41This means that if your eyes are not working properly,
02:44then the shape of your cornea has changed.
02:46In fact, when people have myopia or hyperopia,
02:49the shape of their eyeballs changes.
02:51Look at these diagrams.
02:52The eyeball in myopia is more elongated.
02:57Because of this, the focal point is not on the retina,
03:00but it is formed before the retina.
03:02And the second case,
03:03if your peripheral vision is weak,
03:04this means that you have hyperopia
03:06or it is also called hypermetropia.
03:08In this, your eyes are dilated.
03:10The peripheral things look blurry
03:12because the light rays converge after the retina.
03:16The focal point is after the retina.
03:18Another interesting thing here is that
03:20in humans, all the newborn babies' eyes
03:23are already dilated.
03:25They have hyperopia eyes.
03:27So newborn babies, 1-2 year old babies,
03:30can't see the peripheral things properly.
03:32But as the baby grows up,
03:34the eyeballs become of the right size.
03:36This process takes about 2 years to complete.
03:39After 2 years of age,
03:40the babies start to look normal.
03:42One question you might have is
03:44that the focal length of the lenses is fixed.
03:48So how is it possible that a person can see
03:50from a distance and also from a close distance?
03:51To change our focal length again and again,
03:53we have to change the shape of the lens too.
03:55This is absolutely correct.
03:57And this is done in the eyes of humans
03:59through the eye muscles,
04:00which are also called ciliary muscles.
04:02Keep your finger away from your eyes.
04:05And slowly, keep looking at your finger
04:07and bring it closer to your eyes.
04:09You will see how your eyes are
04:11getting closer and closer to the focus.
04:13And your eye muscles
04:15are more stressed.
04:17You will feel that your eyes are stressed
04:19the more you try to look closer.
04:21Because the ciliary muscles contract
04:23to look at the peripheral things.
04:25The contraction of the ciliary muscles
04:27changes the shape of the lens.
04:29When you look at the peripheral things,
04:31the lens becomes more round.
04:33And when you look at the distant things,
04:35the ciliary muscles relax
04:37so that the shape of the lens can flatten out.
04:39This ability of the eyes
04:41is called accommodation.
04:43But obviously, the ciliary muscles have a limit.
04:45They can't change the shape of the lens beyond a limit.
04:48And when the shape of people's eyeballs
04:50elongates due to myopia,
04:52the ciliary muscles can't help much there.
04:54But the question here is
04:56why do people have myopia?
04:58Why does the shape of some people's eyeballs
05:00elongate and some don't?
05:02There are three different theories here.
05:04The first theory is the Near Work Theory.
05:06Some scientists have said that
05:08the more time we spend looking at the peripheral things,
05:10the more strain will be on our eyes.
05:12The more our ciliary muscles
05:14have to work,
05:16the longer our eyeballs
05:18will remain round and squeezed.
05:20And the more time the eyeballs
05:22will be squeezed,
05:24the more difficult it will be
05:26to relax the eyeballs again.
05:28This is the Near Work Theory.
05:30The more time you spend reading books,
05:32looking at the screen of your phone,
05:34the more strain will be on your eyes.
05:36But before this, there was another theory
05:38which was believed to be the real reason
05:40for myopia.
05:42Scientists believed that
05:44there is no reason behind myopia.
05:46It's just related to genetics.
05:48Your DNA will tell you if you have myopia or not.
05:50And this is hereditary.
05:52If your family has it,
05:54and everyone has it,
05:56then you will also have it.
05:58This DNA theory started failing
06:00in the 1970s.
06:02Because an interesting study was done in 1969
06:04on the tribal people living in Alaska.
06:06It was found that
06:08the middle-aged and elderly people
06:10never had myopia.
06:12But in children and teenagers,
06:14the rates of myopia were more than 50%.
06:16Such a big change in one generation
06:18cannot be the reason
06:20behind this genetics.
06:22Especially when it was found
06:24that the children were adopting
06:26a westernized lifestyle.
06:28This is where the Near Work Theory was born.
06:30Although this Near Work Theory
06:32wasn't a big discovery in itself.
06:34Technically, this theory was more than 400 years old
06:36when a German astronomer
06:38named Friedrich Kepler
06:40suggested for the first time
06:42in 1604
06:44that this could be the reason
06:46behind wearing glasses.
06:48But since the 1970s,
06:50this Near Work Theory became the most popular theory
06:52among scientists.
06:54It was seen that the more educated people there are,
06:56the more academic the population is,
06:58the more glasses they wear.
07:00Historically, British doctors
07:02observed that
07:04the students studying at Oxford University
07:06have more cases of myopia
07:08as compared to
07:10military recruits.
07:12People who joined the army.
07:14In a late 19th century handbook,
07:16it was also suggested that
07:18if you want to treat myopia,
07:20you need to change the air.
07:22You need to take a sea voyage.
07:24So today, this Near Work Theory
07:26can be extended to smartphones,
07:28tablets and computers.
07:30Just like our parents used to say,
07:32don't watch TV too much,
07:34your eyes will get spoilt.
07:36Was this true?
07:38Near Work Theory is a good explanation
07:40but it has been difficult to prove it.
07:42In fact, many latest scientific studies
07:44have found loopholes in this theory too.
07:46In 2008,
07:48this Australian study found that
07:50actually,
07:52it doesn't matter how much time
07:54you spend on Near Work things.
07:56In fact, it matters more
07:58how intense your one session is.
08:00In 2015, a meta-analysis was done
08:02on the Near Work Theory.
08:04It found that
08:06every hour you spend on Near Work
08:08in a week,
08:10your chance of myopia increases by 2%.
08:12If you spend an extra hour
08:14looking at things around you
08:16like books, phones, laptops,
08:18all these things
08:20increase the risk of myopia.
08:22But some studies started seeing inconsistencies
08:24in this Near Work Theory.
08:26Some scientists said that
08:28is it because people are doing near work
08:30or some other reason?
08:32A reason that is co-related to
08:34doing near work.
08:36This brings us to our third and latest
08:38scientific theory,
08:40Outside Theory.
08:42According to this theory,
08:44children don't suffer from myopia
08:46because they spend less time outdoors.
08:48The exposure of daylight
08:50is the main reason
08:52for myopia.
08:54Today, most scientists believe
08:56that outside theory is the main reason
08:58for myopia.
09:00In 2007, a big study was done
09:02on children living in California.
09:04It found that
09:06when children live outdoors,
09:08the risk of myopia is reduced.
09:10Next year, in 2008,
09:12a study was done in Sydney on more than 4,000 children.
09:14For 3 years,
09:16children were observed in this study.
09:18Variables were observed to see how much they play outside,
09:20what they do outside,
09:22how much they do near work,
09:24and the same conclusion was reached.
09:26Do they participate in activities?
09:28Do they play sports?
09:30Do they go for a walk, picnic, or just walk?
09:32It doesn't matter.
09:34The only difference is that
09:36it is important to stay outside.
09:38This theory also proved
09:40why myopia is often called
09:42a disease of affluence.
09:44It is a disease that is more common in rich countries
09:46and less common in poor countries.
09:48When there is economic growth,
09:50children study more,
09:52people work more on computers,
09:54and spend more time outdoors.
09:56Many studies have been done on animals
09:58to find out
10:00what is actually happening in the eyes
10:02when we spend time outdoors.
10:04What changes occur in the eyes
10:06that prevent myopia?
10:08It was found that when we get
10:10exposure to sunlight,
10:12the production of dopamine increases in our retina.
10:14Dopamine regulates
10:16the growth of our eyes.
10:18Our eyes don't elongate so much.
10:20But if there is a lack of dopamine,
10:22our eyes start elongating.
10:24Our eyes don't know when to stop growing.
10:26Human trials were also conducted
10:28to prove this theory.
10:30One of the biggest was conducted
10:32in a college in Taiwan,
10:34which was published in 2020.
10:36Millions of primary school children
10:38in Taiwan were observed between
10:402001 and 2015.
10:42In 2010, there was a big change
10:44in Taiwan when the government
10:46started a program called
10:48TNTN Outdoor 120.
10:50These children spent at least 2 hours outdoors.
10:52A few years after the implementation
10:54of this program,
10:56there was a big positive impact.
10:58In 2012, the rates of myopia
11:00were 49.4% in Taiwan.
11:02By 2015, the rates of myopia
11:04had fallen to 46.1%.
11:06That is, the children spent
11:08only 2 hours outdoors every day
11:10and their eyes started to elongate.
11:14How much daylight is needed
11:16to increase dopamine production in the retina?
11:18This is still unclear,
11:20but the brightness of 10,000 lux
11:22is considered a good benchmark.
11:24Lux is a unit of illuminance.
11:26How much light is there in a place
11:28is measured in lux.
11:30If you go out one day
11:32and the sun is out,
11:34but you are sitting in the shade,
11:36then 10,000 lux brightness is easily achieved.
11:38In tropical countries,
11:40where there is direct sunlight,
11:421,00,000 lux brightness is easily seen.
11:44But if you live indoors,
11:46even if you have opened all the windows and doors,
11:48but you are sitting inside the house,
11:50inside any building,
11:52then even 1,000 lux brightness cannot be achieved.
11:54Now some of you may think
11:56that if we artificially put so many lights
11:58in the classroom,
12:00that the brightness of 10,000 lux can be reached,
12:02will it have any effect?
12:04Of course it will, but it is very difficult
12:06to put the brightness of 10,000 lux in a room.
12:08You will have to put so many lights in the room
12:10and so much heat will be produced by those lights
12:12that special air conditioners
12:14will be needed to keep the room cool.
12:16And in that brightness,
12:18it is not easy to work properly.
12:20So it is better to go out.
12:22And if you are one of those people
12:24who think that I go out,
12:26but do not get time between studies and work,
12:28then I would say
12:30take my time management course.
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12:50I myself use the step-by-step techniques
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12:58Those who have taken this course so far,
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13:20that the whole course is in English language,
13:22not in Hindi.
13:24Now let's come back to our topic.
13:26One thing I would also like to say here
13:28that myopia is not a joke.
13:30Maybe some of you are thinking
13:32what is the big deal,
13:34you just have to wear glasses.
13:36But the latest scientific studies have found
13:38that there is a significant correlation
13:40between the two.
13:42A study published in the investigative
13:44ophthalmology and visual science journal
13:46predicted that by 2050,
13:4810% of the world's population
13:50will have high-grade myopia.
13:52High-grade myopia means
13:54if the number of your glasses
13:56is less than or equal to 6.
13:58The higher the number of your glasses,
14:00the more elongated your eyes are.
14:02And high-grade myopia means
14:04that in the future,
14:06this is because the retina
14:08is present in the eye in a finite amount.
14:10But if the eye grows more,
14:12elongates more,
14:14then it will be like,
14:16if you apply butter on bread,
14:18the quantity of butter is the same
14:20but the bread is getting bigger.
14:22So you will have to spread the butter
14:24more thinly on the bread.
14:26The retina will also have to spread
14:28more thinly on that area of the eye.
14:30The worst case scenario here is
14:32that the retina becomes so thin
14:34that it is called a retinal tear.
14:36And if it bursts out,
14:38then it is called a retinal detachment.
14:40And in such cases, you will become blind.
14:42A study published in 2019
14:44showed that when the number of your glasses
14:46increases with each diopter,
14:48the risk of myopic maculopathy
14:50increases by 67%.
14:52This is another untreatable condition
14:54that can make you blind.
14:56And not only that,
14:58the chances of other diseases
15:00like glaucoma also increase.
15:02In this, the American Academy of Ophthalmology
15:04had set up a task force
15:06so that people start seeing myopia
15:08as a global health problem.
15:10But a year later,
15:12the COVID-19 pandemic came
15:14where there were lockdowns all over the world.
15:16People were forced to stay at home
15:18and this made the situation worse.
15:20A study conducted in China
15:22compared myopia rates in children
15:24before and after the pandemic.
15:26From 2015 to 2019,
15:28it was found that
15:30in 6-year-old children,
15:32myopia rates in China were 5.7%.
15:34But in June 2020,
15:36after 5 months of lockdown,
15:38myopia rates in children were
15:4021.5%.
15:42Imagine, even in 6-year-old children,
15:441 out of 5 children got glasses.
15:46Staying indoors,
15:48not going outdoors for just 5 months
15:50can cause this.
15:52For China, this has become a national security problem.
15:54Because when you have to
15:56become a pilot in the Air Force,
15:58your eyes should be perfectly fine.
16:00But if 90% of the children
16:02get glasses, how will they
16:04get pilots for the Air Force?
16:06Even in India, the situation is worsening rapidly.
16:08The data I told you in the beginning of the video
16:10was based on a study conducted in 2021.
16:12The age group of 5-15-year-olds
16:14is that of urban children.
16:16In 1999, 4.44% had myopia.
16:18But by 2019,
16:2021.15% had myopia.
16:22And this study has predicted
16:24that by 2050,
16:2638.14% of children
16:28in India will have myopia.
16:30That is, 1 out of 2 children living in cities
16:32will get glasses.
16:34So when it comes to solutions,
16:36we should take all three theories into account.
16:38It's not that the DNA theory is completely wrong.
16:40In some people, myopia is actually
16:42due to genetic reasons.
16:44And it's also true that if your parents have myopia,
16:46then the chances of you having myopia also increase.
16:48But the outside theory
16:50is the most important theory.
16:52It has the most impact.
16:54It's the near-work theory.
16:56And then there's genetics.
16:58Now our genetics are out of our control.
17:00So we can't do anything about it.
17:02So whatever we can do to save our eyes
17:04is related to the other two theories.
17:06We should take preventative measures
17:08taking these two theories into account.
17:10First, go out as much as possible.
17:12Spend time in daylight.
17:14However, when you do this,
17:16don't forget to apply sunscreen.
17:18Because sunlight has a bad effect on the skin.
17:20Which increases the chances of skin cancer.
17:22Second, try to reduce the intensity of near-work.
17:24Do more physical activity.
17:26Play sports.
17:28Because sports have an indirect effect on your eyes.
17:30For example, there's a sport like table tennis
17:32or badminton.
17:34There, your eyes focus on the distance
17:36and then on the pass when the ball or shuttle comes close.
17:38This gives your eyes a good chance to relax.
17:40Your eyes don't get strained
17:42when you look at your phone
17:44or read books.
17:46The solutions that I'm telling you
17:48have already been implemented by other countries.
17:50In 2018, Xi Jinping said
17:52that for China,
17:54controlling childhood myopia
17:56has become a national priority.
17:58In 2021, China started cracking down
18:00on the video game industry and private tutoring.
18:02For children aged 6 and 7,
18:04written exams have been terminated in China.
18:06Some schools have even
18:08put metal bars on their desks
18:10so that children
18:12while reading or writing
18:14don't look at the books too closely.
18:16Apart from this, restrictions have been imposed
18:18on playing time
18:20and physical activities have been promoted.
18:22In 2019, the government of Singapore
18:24has also taken many such steps.
18:26The Ministry of Education has terminated
18:28mid-year examinations for 3rd and 5th grade students.
18:30So that children spend more time playing outside
18:32instead of reading books.
18:34In preschools, the outdoor time
18:36has been doubled.
18:38So that children can play outside
18:40for at least an hour a day.
18:42These are all preventative measures.
18:44What about those who already have glasses?
18:46The second thing is that myopia
18:48is an irreversible problem.
18:50Once your eyes are elongated,
18:52it can't be normal again.
18:54But one thing is for sure,
18:56you can stop your eyes from elongating further.
18:58Do all the things that I said
19:00so that the number of your glasses
19:02can stop increasing.
19:04Your eyes won't get any worse.
19:06Although there is no natural way
19:08to fix your eyes,
19:10an artificial Lasik surgery
19:12can definitely be done
19:14so that your vision becomes normal.
19:16In this surgery,
19:18the shape of the cornea is changed.
19:20Through laser,
19:22microscopic amounts of cornea tissue
19:24are removed.
19:26So that your eyes
19:28can get normal vision.
19:30This whole procedure takes
19:32only 15-30 minutes.
19:34Anesthetic eye drops are added
19:36so that the pain is reduced.
19:38Although some people still feel pain
19:40after this surgery.
19:42After this procedure,
19:44you don't need glasses or contact lenses.
19:46Your normal vision comes back.
19:48Although if those precautionary
19:50measures are not taken,
19:52your eyes can get worse again.
19:54Apart from this, there are some special
19:56eye drops and some special lenses
19:58which can slow down the progression
20:00of myopia in children.
20:02These lenses are called
20:04Orthokeratology lenses or Ortho-K lenses.
20:06These are the contact lenses worn at night
20:08which temporarily thicken
20:10the peripheral areas of the eye.
20:12If used in the long term,
20:14it can improve the vision in the day time.
20:16But Ortho-K lenses
20:18don't change the shape of the eyeball.
20:20So its effects are reversible.
20:22It has to be used in the long term
20:24to get good results.
20:26It is said that these treatments
20:28can slow down the progression of myopia
20:30by around 50%.
20:32But this is still a topic of discussion.
20:34These are new technologies.
20:36And in my opinion,
20:38whenever you do near work,
20:40take breaks. Spend more time outside.
20:42Spend less time on video games
20:44and computers.
20:46And when you do this in the long term,
20:48you will be able to avoid glasses.
20:50And if you don't have glasses,
20:52don't treat them as a solution.
20:54If you liked this video,
20:56you can now watch such detailed scientific research
20:58on the topic of weight loss.
21:00Because in this video, I have explained
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