Office workers have an increased risk of myopia. Neurobiologist Frank Schaeffel explains why that is - and why workers should leave more often times gaze into the distance in the job.

Nearsightedness, or myopia, as it is medically termed, is a vision condition in which close objects are seen clearly, but objects farther away appear blurred. Nearsightedness occurs if the eyeball is too long or the cornea, the clear front cover of the eye, has too much curvature. As a result, the light entering the eye isn’t focused correctly and distant objects look blurred. Nearsightedness is a very common vision condition. Some research supports the theory that nearsightedness is hereditary. There is also growing evidence that it is influenced by the visual stress of too much close work

(Original article in German only)

The “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.