Hereditary theory of Myopia

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     In earlier times and during Bates’s lifetime, it was accepted that myopia is genetic. Correlations between myopia and race have even been made (link1). Bates was one of the first scientists to oppose the idea of myopia being hereditary; he found myopia to be more acquired than genetic. According to bates, there just wasn’t satisfactory evidence to blame myopia on genes. Bad eyesight is something that is mostly learned through bad habits and improper use of the eyes.

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     For example, the child of two myopes will likely pick up his/her parent’s bad habits. Students can learn bad vision habits from peers or even teachers. Myopia does have the potential to be passed from parents to children genetically, but it is mostly acquired from environmental factors.

     The hereditary belief was dismissed from the ophthalmology community after a study was performed in the Eskimo families in Barrow, Alaska of 1969. It found there was no major hereditary component in the development of myopia. There was nearly no myopia in the parents’ and grandparents’ generation, however, the children of the Eskimo had a 58% incidence of myopia! They were the first to be introduced to western society schooling. (link5)

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     Bates (1860 -1931) came to his conclusion, long before the Eskimo study using the Carlisle Indians as an example. Eye examinations on Carlisle Indians sometime in the 1890s found they only exhibited 2% myopia, compared to the more than 25% myopia in New York school children. (link2) Bates stated in his book, “… primitive peoples who have always had good eyesight become myopic just as quickly as any others when subjected to the conditions of civilized life…” (Bates 256) He dismissed the hereditary theory.

 

Nearwork Theory of Myopia

 

     Its popularly believed that the cause of myopia is the high demands of nearwork in society. If we didn’t have a majority of indoor lifestyles, then maybe we wouldn’t have such a high prevalence of myopia. Dr. Bates opposed the nearwork theory of myopia. He claimed that myopia is NOT directly caused by nearwork. Many cited Primitive societies had low rates of myopia because they didn’t have compulsory education or an indoor lifestyle.

 

     Primitive people have been known to have good eyesight, a relative absence of myopia. (link4) Bates, however, said their societies are not free of nearwork. “The fact that primitive woman was a seamstress, an embroiderer, a weaver, an artist in all sorts of fine and beautiful work, appears to have been generally forgotten. Yet women living under primitive conditions have just as good eyesight as men” (Bates 2).

 

     Myopia is very often tied to schooling and the high nearwork demands of society today. (link6) However, there are people who develop myopia as adults, much after school age. Their occupations don’t require much nearwork (Bates 253). Although there is a correlation between nearwork and myopia, that does not imply causation. Myopia has still been shown to exist in illiterate cultures, and it’s can’t always be dismissed as having hereditary roots. Bates asserted nearwork has always existed in society, however, it’s not the cause; the cause is eye-strain.

 

Refractive errors and Eye Strain

 

     Myopia is caused by tension in the eyeball. Specifically, when there is a strain on the extraocular muscles, the muscles that allow the eye to accommodate. On the inside, these tense muscles hold the eyeball in an elongated position, resulting in myopia. (link3) This eye strain comes from mental strain.

Bates believed, the extraocular muscles of the eye don’t function properly when you are stressed / when your mind is under strain. On the cause of errors of refraction, bates states “Primarily the strain to see is a strain of the mind.” Bad vision and myopia come from stress, fatigue, and other bad vision habits.

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     Many people have noted their vision is better when they do something they like; Whether it's reuniting with old friends, reading something interesting or etc… On the other hand, being in front of a large crowd or something scary/stressful has people left with temporarily worsened eyesight.

According to Bates, the high level of myopia in society is because: “Under the conditions of civilized life men’s minds are under a continual strain. They have more things to worry them than uncivilized man had."(Bates 98)

 

     Nearwork does not cause myopia. The acts of reading many books and doing a lot of scholarly work are not going to cause people to develop myopia. However, poor vision habits while doing nearwork has a much more contributing role. Habits cause strain.

 

Bates view of Glasses

 

     In addition to mental strain, another factor that harms vision is glasses. Dr. Bates taught that glasses ruin your eyes through continual deterioration; the eyes slowly worsen over time. Each sequent year, optometrists prescribe strong and strong prescriptions to patients. This is because, in reality, glasses are just a temporary solution; in the long-term, glasses don’t fix the problem they worsen it.

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     The general goal of a prescribed medicine is to gradually rebuild the body. The body needs to get stronger so that the medicine is no longer needed. Glasses don’t help solve the root problem, but rather help the eyes develop a dependence on them. They aren’t of benefit. Glasses help progress myopia.