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The number of children who need glasses to see far away objects -- a condition known as myopia -- is increasing and current projections suggest that by 2050, 50 percent of the world's population will be affected.
近視需要配戴眼鏡方能看清遠(yuǎn)處物體，小兒近視的數(shù)量正在上升，根據(jù)目前的預(yù)測，到2050年，世界50%人口都將受到近視困擾。
In the 1970s, 25 percent of Americans had myopia; but just three decades later prevalence rose to 42 percent.
20世紀(jì)70年代，美國有25%的人口近視；而只過了30年，近視率就升到了42%。
Although genetics is responsible for some cases of myopia, scientists now believe that environment also plays a major role.
雖然在某些案例中，基因是導(dǎo)致近視的原因，但今天的科學(xué)家認(rèn)為環(huán)境同樣起著重大影響。
Now researchers are starting to untangle the reasons for the skyrocketing rates and devise ways of slowing down and reversing a child's declining vision -- which is important for their overall quality of life and their risk for developing vision loss later in life.
現(xiàn)在，研究人員正著手厘清近視率激增的原因，設(shè)計治療方案以減緩甚至反轉(zhuǎn)兒童視力衰退的進(jìn)程--視力對于孩子的整體生活質(zhì)量至關(guān)重要，與日后會否發(fā)展出其他視力損失也有深刻關(guān)系。
"Kids are becoming nearsighted at rates that are faster than we've ever seen before," says Nick Onken, an optometrist at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. "It's faster than even genetics alone can account for."
“兒童近視的速率比從前任何時候觀察到的都更快，”阿拉巴馬大學(xué)伯明翰分校的驗光師尼克·昂肯說，“遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過了單靠基因能產(chǎn)生的近視速率。”
"We've known for decades that the more nearsighted the person is," says Onken, "the higher the likelihood they are for losing vision when they're older, due to conditions like retinal detachment, glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts."
昂肯說：“幾十年來我們一直知道，人的近視程度越深，在年齡增長后失去視力的可能性就更大，這可能是視網(wǎng)膜剝離、青光眼、黃斑變性及白內(nèi)障等多種情況引起的。”
Myopia often starts during childhood, due to a mismatch between how fast the eye is growing and where light is focusing on the retina.
近視常常發(fā)生于童年期，是眼睛發(fā)育速度與光聚集在視網(wǎng)膜的位置不匹配引起的。
"The condition of myopia or nearsightedness is caused by the fact that the eye is too long," says Carolyn Lederman, an ophthalmologist based in Purchase, New York.
“近視的成因是眼球過長。”紐約帕切斯的眼科專家卡羅琳·萊德曼說。
When the entire eyeball grows longer than it should, this creates a situation where the focusing components of the eye -- the cornea and the lens -- target light just in front of the retina, rather than on the retina, which causes far-away objects to appear blurry.
如果眼球整體發(fā)育超過了應(yīng)有長度，就會導(dǎo)致眼睛負(fù)責(zé)聚焦的結(jié)構(gòu)--角膜與晶狀體--使光線落在視網(wǎng)膜前，而非視網(wǎng)膜上，因此導(dǎo)致遠(yuǎn)處物體看起來模糊不清。
As it turns out, the age at which a child first becomes myopic is often predictive of how bad their vision will end up.
研究結(jié)果顯示，兒童首次發(fā)生近視的年齡通常有助于預(yù)測其視力發(fā)展的最差情況。
"The biggest predictor of how nearsighted you're going to be, is when you become nearsighted," says Jeffrey Walline, an optometrist and associate dean of research at The Ohio State University.
“關(guān)于將來近視程度的最大預(yù)測項是開始近視的年齡。”俄亥俄州立大學(xué)研究院副院長、驗光師杰弗里·沃林說。
As Walline explains, the younger a child is when they first become nearsighted, the worse it will end up as, due to the length of time that the eyeball spends growing longer than it should.
他解釋道，孩子首次出現(xiàn)近視的年齡越早，最后結(jié)果就會越糟，病情發(fā)展取決于眼球超出其應(yīng)有長度后又發(fā)育了多久。
For most children, their vision will stabilize during their late teenage years, although for a minority of individuals, this process will last until their mid-20s.
大部分孩子的視力會在青少年晚期固定下來，不過極小部分人的視力發(fā)育還會延續(xù)到20多歲。
In addition to needing corrective glasses or contacts to see properly, people with myopia are also at a much higher risk for developing vision problems later in life.
近視人群需要佩戴框架或隱形矯正眼鏡，他們還有更高的風(fēng)險在以后的人生中出現(xiàn)視力問題。
As Ann Shue, an ophthalmologist at Stanford University, explains, when the eye is just a little bit bigger than it should be, this stretches it out, similar to pizza dough, which can affect the very delicate nerves and blood vessels of the retina that are attached to the back of the eye.
斯坦福大學(xué)眼科專家安·舒解釋說，只要眼睛比標(biāo)準(zhǔn)尺寸大一點點，它就會向外拉伸，像比薩面團(tuán)似的，這會影響到位于眼球后部的視網(wǎng)膜那極度精密的神經(jīng)與血管。
"As we get older, that can pull on the retina," causing issues such as glaucoma, retinal detachment or macular eye degeneration, Shue says.
舒說，“隨著年齡增長，視網(wǎng)膜會受到牽拉”，繼而產(chǎn)生青光眼、視網(wǎng)膜脫落或黃斑變性等眼部問題。
