The Issue
In plain talk
- Approximately 3.5 billion people today have an eye condition which requires most of them to wear glasses (or lenses) to see properly.
- And the bad news is that this number is increasing to 6.1 billion in 2020.
- There are mainly two problems;
- People that are nearsighted and need to wear glasses all the time to see
- People who are farsighted (occasionally) need glasses, for example, to read.
In order to understand why Focusspec® provides a welcome solution.
- Nearsightedness affects 1.6 billion people today and the percentage of people with this condition is increasing.
- Especially in Asia, prevalence is very high with over 50% of people with nearsightedness.
- Farsightedness is mostly age related; practically each one of us will in due time be confronted by it, simply as aging will diminish our ability to focus close by.
We estimate that approximately 80% of the people who need refractive correction can be helped with our Focusspec® glasses.
Now, for those interested....
Hyperopia: Longsightedness
Hyperopia is caused when either the cornea is flatly curved or the eyeball is relatively short in length. This causes light to focus behind the retina, giving a blurred image.
A hyperope has blurred vision at near distances. Vision will also blur at distance as the hyperope gets older. This is because we lose our ability to accommodate as we age.
Hyperopia is corrected using a convex lens which has a positive power in dioptres. Its prevalence varies by population and occupation and latent errors become manifest with age: when young, one focusses the eyes to neutralise it. When you get older, you can't anymore.
A Focusspec can correct Hyperopia up to +4.50 DS.
Myopia: Shortsightedness
Myopia is caused when either the cornea is steeply curved or the eyeball is relatively long in length. This causes light to focus in front of the retina, giving a blurred image. A myope has blurred vision at far distance and clear vision at near distances. It is corrected using a concave lens. This will have a minus power in dioptres.
The prevalence of myopia varies by population (for caucasian around 30%, oriental people as high as80%) and by occupation.
A Focusspec can correct Myopia up to -5.00 DS.
Presbyopia
Presbyopia is a natural age related change in the eye which results in poor vision at near. It can be noticed from age 40yrs approximately and gets progressively worse. It is caused as the focussing lens in the eye becomes less flexible and, at the same time, the muscles surrounding the lens become weaker
Classic presbyopic symptoms are holding a book at arms length, searching for better light and using larger print when reading. Presbyopia is corrected using plus (+) powered reading glasses.
The prevalence is almost 100% for ages over 40, though myopes can see close targets without specs on. It steadily worsens with age.
A Focusspec can correct Hyperopia up to +4.50 DS.
Astigmatisme
Astigmatism is usually the result of an irregularly curved cornea. The differing curvature of the cornea give two points of focus in the eye. This results in a blurred image on the retina.
Astigmatism causes blurring of vision at both distance and near. Most people have a small amount.
Astigmatism is corrected using a fairly complicated lens. Few people need a powerful correction for it: 80% of the people have a measurable amount of astigmatisme, but usually not much. For only 5 -10% it is quite important to correct it.
A Focusspec does not correct astigmatism as it is not a cylindrical lens form. It does provide ‘best sphere vision correction’, which can be thought of as the best compromise in the absence of a sphero-cyl lens.
Productivity loss
Cost of Global economic productivity loss in international dollars (I$) associated with URE burden I$ 427.7 billion before, and I$ 268.8 billion after, adjustment for country-specific labour force participation and employment rates.
With the same adjustment, but assuming no economic productivity for individuals aged over 50 years, potential productivity loss at I$ 121.4 billion.