Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1919 — Muscular Effort Is Cause of Nearsightedness, Notes an Authority on Subject [ARTICLE]

Muscular Effort Is Cause of Nearsightedness, Notes an Authority on Subject

It is generally agreed that myopia, or nearsightedness, is an acquired defect resulting from the elongation of the eyeball, but its causation has not yet been determined, the evidence for the assumption that near work produces near sight being unsatisfactory. ■Dr. Eldridge Green, writing in the London Lancet, advances the theory that the primary and essential cause is an obstruction of the outflow of the lymph. Thd obstruction may be produced by severe muscular effort, e. g„ by lifting heavy weights, when a feeling of tension is always felt in the eyes, which appear, In extreme cases, to be starting from the head. This is more especially the cause of progressive myopia among warehouse boys, porters and others whose work Involves excessive effort, while with those engaged in sedentary occupations the form of exercise taken may be responsible, e. g., wrestling, rowing, digging, and also coughing. Thus when signs of commencing myopia appear anything likely to increase the intraocular tension should be avoided. There is no need to avoid reading.