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Farsightedness afflicts younger patients

The average age at which Taiwanese are affected by age-related farsightedness has dropped from 40 to 35, a survey released recently showed.

The survey was conducted this month by eye-care specialist Chang Yun-hsiang (張雲翔) of the Taipei-based Tri-Service General Hospital. A questionnaire was delivered to 50 eye-care specialists at hospitals and eye clinics around Taiwan to gain insight into how people develop farsightedness and to assess the public's understanding of the problem.

The survey showed that 45 percent of respondents believe farsightedness, or presbyopia -- a problem caused by the increasing rigidity and inflexibility of the lens of the eye -- is no longer confined to 40-somethings as an increasing number of people are seeking help at younger ages after finding they have trouble reading newspapers or books without holding the reading material at arm's length.

The group of "young" people with presbyopia, or "long arm sight," account for 5 percent of all those who are farsighted, the report said.

The report also revealed that 30-somethings with presbyopia are frequently computer engineers, teachers or producers of computer game animation.

Chang said that an early loss of the eyes' focusing ability may be caused by factors including staring at objects at close range for a long period of time everyday and changing the focus between objects at near and far range too often.
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