Abstract
Myopia is a common affliction (one in four adult Americans is near-sighted1), and juvenile-onset myopia is believed to be due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors2. Results from animal experiments indicate that light cycles may affect the development of myopia3,4, and Quinn et al. claim to have extended these to humans5. They reported a strong association between childhood myopia and night-time lighting before the age of two: there were five times more children with myopia among those who slept with room lights on than in those who slept in the dark, and an intermediate number among those sleeping with a dim night-light5. However, we have been unable to find a link between night-time nursery lighting and the development of myopia in a sample of schoolchildren.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sperduto, R. D., Seigel, D., Roberts, J. & Rowland, M. Arch. Ophthalmol. 101, 405–407 ( 1983).
Mutti, D. O., Zadnik, K. & Adams, A. J. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 37, 952–957 (1996).
Stone, R. A., Lin, T., Desai, D. & Capehart, C. Vision Res. 35, 1195–1202 (1995).
Raviola, E. & Wiesel, T. N. N. Engl. J. Med. 312 , 1609–1615 (1985).
Quinn, G. E., Shin, C. H., Maguire, M. G. & Stone, R. A. Nature 399, 113–114 ( 1999).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zadnik, K., Jones, L., Irvin, B. et al. Myopia and ambient night-time lighting. Nature 404, 143–144 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35004661
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35004661
This article is cited by
-
Longitudinal association between sleep features and refractive errors in preschoolers from the EDEN birth-cohort
Scientific Reports (2021)
-
Decreased sleep quality in high myopia children
Scientific Reports (2016)
-
Pediatric Myopic Progression Treatments: Science, Sham, and Promise
Current Ophthalmology Reports (2014)
-
Contribution of TGFβ1 Codon 10 Polymorphism to High Myopia in an Ethnic Kashmiri Population from India
Biochemical Genetics (2013)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.