mlj@lanl.ARPA (11/16/84)
Several years ago my mother heard or read somewhere that if a person is nearsighted--with no other complications--then when he/she gets older, he/she won't have to wear glasses any more, as many aging people with previous normal vision have to start wearing them for reading, etc. Is there any truth in this? Marie-Louise Jalbert Los Alamos Nat'l Lab mlj@lanl.ARPA
rwh@aesat.UUCP (Russell Herman) (11/18/84)
I've heard that song before, having worn glasses for nearsightedness and
astigmatism since around age 11. Lately the lyrics have changed to
"Well, another few years and you'll be looking through bifocals." Sigh.
I used to believe that the need for glasses later in life had to do with
the eye muscles losing strength with age (anyone remember a book called
_Sight without Glasses_?). My optometrist now tells me that what actually
happens is that the lens loses its elasticity.
--
______ Russ Herman
/ \ {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!aesat!rwh
@( ? ? )@
( || ) The opinions above are strictly personal, and
( \__/ ) do not reflect those of my employer (or even
\____/ possibly myself an hour from now.)werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (11/20/84)
> Several years ago my mother heard or read somewhere that if a > person is nearsighted--with no other complications--then when > he/she gets older, he/she won't have to wear glasses any more, > > Is there any truth in this? IF it is only nearsightedness, then YES. The eyes become progressively more farsighted with age, hence the need for reading glasses. However, if you start out nearsighted, then the aging process might bring the eyes back into the normal range. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner What do you expect? Watermelons are out of season!
gino@voder.UUCP (Gino Bloch) (12/04/84)
[bifocal line] > > person is nearsighted--with no other complications--then when > > he/she gets older, he/she won't have to wear glasses any more, > > IF it is only nearsightedness, then YES. The eyes become progressively > more farsighted with age, hence the need for reading glasses. However, if > you start out nearsighted, then the aging process might bring the eyes > back into the normal range. The confusion here is in the meaning of `farsighted'. To an optometrist, it means `requiring adaptation (focussing action) to see to infinity'. This does NOT increase with age as a general thing. What DOES increase with age is loss of ability to focus close - loss of adaptation. This is called `presbyopia', the other is `hyper[metr]opia'. Basically, the far limit does its own thing while the near limit approaches it from this side. Thus most aging myopes (me included) wear bifocals. -- Gene E. Bloch (...!nsc!voder!gino) Mr Humility