The risk of glaucoma or cataracts: why high myopia should not be ignored

Nearsightedness is not just a distance vision disorder that can be easily corrected. This may be associated with an increased risk of ophthalmic complications, usually very low for mild to moderate forms. On the other hand, this eye disease is, to some extent, a real public health problem due to the associated risk of blindness.

A severe form is said to be when the diopter, a unit of measurement for optical defects, exceeds -6. “There is a general lack of knowledge about this disease, high myopia,” complains Professor Ramin Tadayoni, head of the Rothschild Foundation’s department of ophthalmology. Interested patients face difficulties in care, often with diagnostic and therapeutic wanderings. It is difficult to get the right diagnosis at the right time with the right equipment, which is often very expensive and not available in smaller eye clinics and centers. Patients themselves do not necessarily have access to quality medical information from available medical resources. »

Risk of glaucoma

High myopia is associated with several complications that can affect vision. This is a risk factor for glaucoma, i.e. disease that affects the optic nerve, which must be detected and treated with special eye drops. This severe myopia also increases the risk of retinal tear or detachment: elongation of the eyeball stretches the retinal tissues, which become brittle and can tear. This complication requires urgent surgical care.

High myopia also leads to an increased risk of early cataracts, that is, progressive clouding of the lens, which requires surgery. Finally, it can cause a form of degeneration of the central zone of the retina, the macula, whose symptoms are similar to those of AMD (age-related macular degeneration). For all these reasons, the prevention of myopia and its aggravation has become a major public health problem.