MYOPIA IN SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN
RAFAEL IRIBARREN
I decided to become a doctor at the age of 16 and studied intensively until I graduated with honors in 1976 at the age of 23. Around that time I developed a slight myopia that prevented me from seeing properly bus numbers at distance when I travelled at night. I thought it was from studying so much, as grandmothers used to say…
At the beginning I worked for several years in the Ministry of Education in charge of School Health of children in schools in the Pompeya neighborhood and I worked in emergency care for children at home. But in the end I decided to go into my family’s specialty. So, from 1980 onwards, I studied to become an ophthalmologist. I was always interested in the fact that myopic people read well without glasses, as it seemed that myopia was a biological adaptation to be able to read without effort.
By 1995, when our father passed away, I already had a lot of experience in the specialty from seeing and caring for my patients. And then the internet came along and I was able to quickly access all the international research on myopia. I was able to meet Prof. Frank Schaeffel from Germany, Prof. Bill Stell from Canada and Prof. Ian Morgan from Australia, who were working with animals that were becoming myopic and trying to stop their progression. This augured well for the possibility of developing drugs (which we have today) to stop myopia. So I set to work for the future that lay ahead. First we found out with Florencia Cortinez and José P. Chiappe how many myopes there were in our population, publishing our statistics in the prestigious Revista Medicina Buenos Aires.
And from 2000 onwards I published my independent clinical research in international journals with the help of my brother Guillermo and the above mentioned researchers as well as many others from Argentina, Belgium, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Germany, Norway, Israel, Iran, India, USA, Brazil, Ecuador, Japan, Singapore, and Shanghai, Shandong, Hong Kong and Beijing in China. Many patients and doctors have selflessly contributed to help me with the intensive research work and to pay the publication fees, which in some cases amount to thousands of dollars.
I am very grateful for this. And now comes the stage of disseminating the findings of science to society, such as that «myopia in children develops from not being outdoors for a couple of hours a day». And also that myopia increases «from reading all the time» or perhaps «from going to bed with the mobile phone». Or that «the confinement of the pandemic aggravated myopia».
Maybe we should spend more time talking and telling stories, and live more outdoors as we did in the years before the industrial age. If you want to broaden your knowledge on these issues, send me whatsapp and we’ll arrange a chat. I have no PhD, no foundation, no academic position, but I am recognized as a Researcher in Myopia and its causes.
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Cortinez, M.F., Chiappe, J.P., Iribarren, R., 2008. Prevalence of refractive errors in a population of office-workers in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 15, 10-16.
Chiappe, J.P., Nahum, P., Casiraghi, J.F., Iribarren, R., 2015. Prevalence of disc cupping in non-glaucomatous eyes. Medicina 75, 6-10.
Fernández Irigaray L, B.A., Armesto A, Magnetto I, Szeps A, Iribarren LR, Iribarren R, Grzybowski A., 2021. Outdoor exposure in children from Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Archivos Sociedad Española de Oftalmologia in press.
Galan MM, T.W., Iribarren R., 2021. El rol de la longitud axial y la queratometría en el seguimiento de niños miopes Oftalmologia Clinica y Experimental 14.
Grzybowski, A., Armesto, A., Szwajkowska, M., Iribarren, G., Iribarren, R., 2015. The Role of Atropine Eye Drops in Myopia Control. Current pharmaceutical design 21, 4718-4730.
Grzybowski, A., Iribarren, R., Iribarren, G., Honda, S., 2017. Oral Bisphosphonates and Risk of Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Am J Ophthalmol 176, 255.
Hashemi, H., Asharlous, A., Khabazkhoob, M., Iribarren, R., Khosravi, A., Yekta, A., Emamian, M.H., Fotouhi, A., 2020. The Effect of Cyclopentolate on Ocular Biometric Components. Optom Vis Sci 97, 440-447.
Hashemi, H., Iribarren, R., Morgan, I.G., Khabazkhoob, M., Mohammad, K., Fotouhi, A., 2010. Increased hyperopia with ageing based on cycloplegic refractions in adults: the Tehran Eye Study. Br J Ophthalmol 94, 20-23.
Hashemi, H., Khabazkhoob, M., Iribarren, R., Emamian, M.H., Fotouhi, A., 2016. Five-year change in refraction and its ocular components in the 40- to 64-year-old population of the Shahroud eye cohort study. Clin Exp Ophthalmol 44, 669-677.
Hashemi, H., Pakzad, R., Iribarren, R., Khabazkhoob, M., Emamian, M.H., Fotouhi, A., 2018. Lens power in Iranian schoolchildren: a population-based study. Br J Ophthalmol 102, 779-783.
Iribarren, R., 2003. Darkness and myopia progression. Ophthalmology 110, 1070-1071; author reply 1071-1072.
Iribarren, R., 2008. Tropicamide and myopia progression. Ophthalmology 115, 1103-1104; author reply 1104.
Iribarren, R., 2015. Crystalline lens and refractive development. Prog Retin Eye Res 47, 86-106.
Iribarren, R., Balsa, A., Armesto, A., Chiaradia, P., Despontin, L., Fornaciari, A., Pfortner, T., 2005. Family history of myopia is not related to the final amount of refractive error in low and moderate myopia. Clin Exp Ophthalmol 33, 274-278.
Iribarren, R., Bonthoux, F.F., Pfortner, T., Chiaradia, P., Stell, W.K., 2012a. Corneal power is correlated with anterior chamber diameter. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 53, 3788-3791.
Iribarren, R., Cortinez, M.F., Chiappe, J.P., 2009. Age of first distance prescription and final myopic refractive error. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 16, 84-89.
Iribarren, R., Cortinez, M.F., Chiappe, J.P., 2010. Age of first distance spectacle prescription for manifest hyperopia. Current eye research 35, 385-388.
Iribarren, R., Fornaciari, A., Hung, G.K., 2001. Effect of cumulative nearwork on accommodative facility and asthenopia. International ophthalmology 24, 205-212.
Iribarren, R., Hashemi, H., Khabazkhoob, M., Morgan, I.G., Emamian, M.H., Shariati, M., Fotouhi, A., 2015a. Hyperopia and Lens Power in an Adult Population: The Shahroud Eye Study. Journal of ophthalmic & vision research 10, 400-407.
Iribarren R, I.G., 2012. Prevalence Of Myopic Shifts In Patients Seeking Cataract Surgery. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 53.
Iribarren R, I.G., Fornaciari A, 2002. Accommodation, phoria and covergence in computer users. Medicina 62, 141-144.
Iribarren, R., Iribarren, G., 2013. Prevalence of myopic shifts among patients seeking cataract surgery. Medicina 73, 207-212.
Iribarren, R., Iribarren, G., Castagnola, M.M., Balsa, A., Cerrella, M.R., Armesto, A., Fornaciari, A., Pfortner, T., 2002a. Family history and reading habits in adult-onset myopia. Current eye research 25, 309-315.
Iribarren, R., Iribarren, G., Fornaciari, A., 2002b. [Visual function study in work with computer]. Medicina 62, 141-144.
Iribarren, R., Midelfart, A., Kinge, B., 2015b. Lens power loss in early adulthood. Acta Ophthalmol 93, e233-234.
Iribarren, R., Morgan, I.G., Chan, Y.H., Lin, X., Saw, S.M., 2012b. Changes in lens power in Singapore Chinese children during refractive development. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 53, 5124-5130.
Iribarren, R., Morgan, I.G., Hashemi, H., Khabazkhoob, M., Emamian, M.H., Shariati, M., Fotouhi, A., 2014a. Lens power in a population-based cross-sectional sample of adults aged 40 to 64 years in the Shahroud Eye Study. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 55, 1031-1039.
Iribarren, R., Morgan, I.G., Nangia, V., Jonas, J.B., 2012c. Crystalline lens power and refractive error. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 53, 543-550.
Iribarren, R., Rozema, J.J., Schaeffel, F., Morgan, I.G., 2014b. Calculation of crystalline lens power in chickens with a customized version of Bennett’s equation. Vision Res 96, 33-38.
Jonas, J.B., Iribarren, R., Nangia, V., Sinha, A., Pardhi, P., Shukla, R., Panda-Jonas, S., 2015. Lens Position and Age: The Central India Eye and Medical Study. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 56, 5309-5314.
Kotlik C, Z.R., Szeps A, Impagliazzo R, De Tomas M, Iribarren R., 2021. Miopía y deportes al aire libre en estudiantes universitarios de Mendoza, Argentina. Oftalmologia Clinica y Experimental 14.
Li, S.M., Iribarren, R., Kang, M.T., Li, H., Li, S.Y., Liu, L.R., Sun, Y.Y., Meng, B., Zhan, S.Y., Rozema, J.J., Wang, N., 2016a. Corneal Power, Anterior Segment Length and Lens Power in 14-year-old Chinese Children: the Anyang Childhood Eye Study. Scientific reports 6, 20243.
Li, S.M., Iribarren, R., Kang, M.T., Li, H., Li, S.Y., Liu, L.R., Sun, Y.Y., Meng, B., Zhan, S.Y., Rozema, J.J., Wang, N., 2016b. Corrigendum: Corneal Power, Anterior Segment Length and Lens Power in 14-year-old Chinese Children: the Anyang Childhood Eye Study. Scientific reports 6, 26919.
Li, S.M., Iribarren, R., Li, H., Kang, M.T., Liu, L., Wei, S.F., Stell, W.K., Martin, G., Wang, N., 2019. Intraocular pressure and myopia progression in Chinese children: the Anyang Childhood Eye Study. Br J Ophthalmol 103, 349-354.
Ma, Y., Lin, S., Morgan, I.G., Rozema, J.J., Iribarren, R., Zhu, J., Zhao, R., Zhang, B., Yin, Y., Shao, Y., He, X., Xu, X., Zou, H., 2021. Eyes grow towards mild hyperopia rather than emmetropia in Chinese preschool children. Acta Ophthalmol.
Morgan, I.G., Iribarren, R., Fotouhi, A., Grzybowski, A., 2015. Cycloplegic refraction is the gold standard for epidemiological studies. Acta Ophthalmol 93, 581-585.
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Picotti C, S.V., Fernandez Irigaray L, Morgan IG, Iribarren R., 2021. Myopia Progression in Children during COVID-19 Home Confinement in Argentina. Oftalmologia Clinica y Experimental in press.
Rozema, J., Dankert, S., Iribarren, R., Lanca, C., Saw, S.M., 2019a. Axial Growth and Lens Power Loss at Myopia Onset in Singaporean Children. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 60, 3091-3099.
Rozema J, I.R., 2020. Oscillations in the normal refractive development of young children,. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 61.
Rozema, J.J., Sanchez, V., Artal, N., Gramajo, A.L., Torres, E., Luna, J.D., Iribarren, R., Tassignon, M.J., Juarez, C.P., 2015. Lens opacity based modelling of the age-related straylight increase. Vision Res 117, 25-33.
Rozema, J.J., Sun, W., Wu, J.F., Jiang, W.J., Wu, H., Lu, T.L., Hu, Y.Y., Chen, R., Guo, D.D., Wang, X.R., Dankert, S., Jonas, J.B., Iribarren, R., Tian, Q.M., Bi, H.S., 2019b. Differences in ocular biometry between urban and rural children matched by refractive error: the Shandong Children Eye Study. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 39, 451-458.
Sanchez V, I.R., Latino SG, Torres VE, Gramajo AL, Artal ME, Yadarola MB, Garay PR, Luna JD, Juarez CP., 2011. Refractive Errors Survey In Older Adults In An Argentinean City. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 52.
Sanchez V, I.R., Latino SG, Torres VE, Gramajo AL, Artal ME, Yadarola MB, Garay PR, Luna JD, Juarez CP., 2016. Prevalence of refractive errors in Villa Maria, Córdoba, Argentina. Eye Science 31, 68-77.