- Students experience a marked decline in eyesight while
at university, with too much "intensive" reading to blame, a
study suggests.
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- Researchers at Spain's Complutense University found 31.3%
of first-years were short-sighted.
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- Among those four to six years older, in their final year,
the rate was 49%.
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- Research author Dr Rafaela Garrido said many of the 270
students tested spent up to 10 hours at a time reading in poor light.
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- 'Dealing with the stress'
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- She told BBC News Online: "Some students are spending
too long in intensive near work with their eyes.
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- "It is also a problem with people who spend too
long on a computer or using a microscope.
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- "It's difficult to ask students to do less reading,
as it is essential to passing courses, but we have to find ways to deal
with the stress on the eyes."
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- Research is being carried out into lenses to prevent
myopia among those involved in intensive reading or screen-viewing.
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- Some scientists have tested drugs to delay the onset
of short-sightedness by relaxing the eye during periods of intensive work.
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- Dr Garrido said most sufferers who developed the condition
while children had a genetic tendency towards it.
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- Adults, however, were likely to become short-sighted
because of too much stress on the eye.
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- Dr Garrido said: "There are some things students
and others can do to prevent myopia.
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- "Having good light and taking regular study breaks
are among them.
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- "We have to find another way to prevent the onset
of myopia."
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- Dr Garrido is presenting her findings to the 10th International
Myopia Conference in Cambridge.
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3907893.stm
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