Modern city dwellers rely heavily on electronic devices whether for work or leisure. They spend long hours staring at screens every day, from TVs and computers to smartphones, which have become an indispensable part of their lives. This leads to a growing trend of eye problems among the younger population. Conditions such as myopia, presbyopia, dry eye, cataract, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and retinal detachment are becoming more prevalent. What are the causes of these eye conditions? How do they affect our vision? Let’s delve into more details.

Myopia

Myopia is the most common eye condition. In Hong Kong, approximately 18% of 6-year-old children have myopia, and by the age of 12, the rate increases sharply to 62%. Plus, the degree of myopia tends to increase with age until patients reach around 20 years old. If you have myopia, when your ciliary muscle is relaxed, the light entering the eye focuses in front of the retina rather than on the retina itself. To correct this, you have to wear concave lenses to diverge the light and refocus it onto the retina, thereby improving your vision.

Presbyopia

If you find that you cannot see close objects clearly, such as phones, menus, or magazines, then you are likely to have presbyopia, a type of age-related vision degeneration. Almost everyone will experience presbyopia after they reach the age of around 40. The tissues in our eyes, such as the lens and ciliary muscle, gradually lose their elasticity as we age. This impairs our ability to adjust our focus between near and far objects.

Cataracts

Cataracts occur when the lens of the eye becomes cloudy due to factors such as diabetes, genetics, congenital factors, and ageing. This leads to gradual vision loss, like seeing a blurry vision, halos around light, and faded colours. When driving at night, oncoming headlights may appear especially bright and cause discomfort. Nowadays, cataracts can be treated with surgery by implanting an artificial lens inside the eye to improve vision.

Dry eye

Many people suffer from dry eye due to factors such as wearing contact lenses, staring at electronic screens, taking certain medications, and staying in dry environments for long periods, having an autoimmune disease, or going through menopause. Dry eye syndrome can be categorized as aqueous deficient, evaporative, or mixed dry eye. Common symptoms include dryness, eye fatigue, stiff eyelids, eye pain, and even sensitivity to wind and light. Its treatment depends on the type and severity of the condition.

Macular degeneration

The macula, located in the centre of the retina at the back of the eye, is responsible for central vision and contains the highest concentration of photoreceptor cells. If the macula becomes damaged, it can greatly affect vision. Macular degeneration usually affects people over the age of 50, especially those who are highly near-sighted (over 800 degrees). When vision loss occurs, patients may see distorted objects and fail to perceive colours properly. If left untreated, macular degeneration can progress to blindness.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a type of optic nerve disease. Once the optic nerve is damaged, it cannot be restored to a healthy state and can lead to permanent blindness in the worst case. Glaucoma is generally caused by elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). It may not cause obvious symptoms in the early stages. But if you experience eye pain, redness, swelling, sudden vision loss, seeing halos around lights, headaches, or vomiting, there is a high chance you have acute angle-closure glaucoma, and you should seek medical attention immediately.

Retinal detachment

The retina acts just like the film inside a camera. It converts incoming light and images into neuroelectrical signals that are sent to the brain's visual centres so that we can "see". However, eye inflammation, severe myopia or hyperopia, eye injuries, diabetic retinopathy, and other factors can cause retinal detachment. This can lead to vision loss, impaired visual field, shadows in vision, and even blindness.

Are you curious about whether you might be experiencing any of the 7 common eye conditions? If you notice any changes in your vision or suspect that you may have an eye problem, you should receive a vision test as soon as possible to avoid further worsening of the problem.

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