{"id":518479,"date":"2026-07-29T09:16:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/high-myopia-goes-beyond-wearing-glasses-these-are-its-main-risks\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T09:16:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:16:57","slug":"high-myopia-goes-beyond-wearing-glasses-these-are-its-main-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/high-myopia-goes-beyond-wearing-glasses-these-are-its-main-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"High myopia goes beyond wearing glasses: these are its main risks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Barcelona.-<\/strong> Xavier P\u00e0mies’ six diopters went from being a vision problem, as is the case for a large part of the population, to becoming a series of retinal and glaucoma complications that threatened his visual health, in what is known as high myopia, where timely diagnosis is key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I wouldn’t pass the test today if I had to, for example, drive a garbage truck, because of the limited peripheral vision I have,” Xavier tells reporters during a consultation with his doctors at the Myopia Unit of the Ophthalmology Department at Vall d\u2019Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, which has been working on these types of severe cases holistically since 2024, bringing together retina and glaucoma specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prevalence of myopia continues to grow and has become a pandemic: while at the beginning of the century, 20% of the world’s population was myopic, by 2050 this percentage is expected to increase to 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High prevalence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This highly prevalent ophthalmological disease is a refractive error in which, due to an increased axial length of the eyeball\u2014from the cornea (front) to the retina (back)\u2014images are focused in front of the retina, causing distant objects to appear blurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the number of diopters, it is considered mild between 0.5 and 3, moderate between 3 and 6, and high above 6.
It is these high myopias that, especially after the age of 50, can evolve into other serious problems, essentially retinal detachment and glaucoma (damage to the optic nerve due to high pressure, which can cause vision loss).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That happened to Xavier: “It’s a long journey that began in 2007 with a retinal detachment, when I was on summer vacation, but they caught it in time,” the patient recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend reading: Ophthalmologist warns about increase in dry eye in children with Myopia<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Years later, in the midst of the 2020 covid pandemic, Xavier detected that his vision was worsening again, but upon going to the ophthalmologist, he was diagnosed with advanced glaucoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They placed a drainage device to reduce ocular pressure, which has kept glaucoma, one of the leading causes of vision loss, under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A few years have passed now and I see quite well,” explained Xavier, who can lead a normal life because he works in translation, but if he had to work as a professional driver, he wouldn’t be able to, he admitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In half of one eye they have poor vision while, in the other, the problem is in the peripheral vision, they explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining forces between specialists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Vall d\u2019Hebron ophthalmology associate Marta Castany explained that in 2024 they created a Myopia Unit to “join forces” between retina and glaucoma specialists, in order to offer complex patients a “more holistic” approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castany, who is a glaucoma specialist, explained that retinal complications “are very evident” and patients “complain immediately,” but on the other hand, “glaucoma goes unnoticed until advanced stages.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the goal of the unit is to “detect it sooner, when it is not terminal, so that they do not lose their sight”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We do not avoid complications, which there will be, but we improve detection and early treatment, so the patient is better guided and the pathology does not go unnoticed,” Castany explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vall d\u2019Hebron Myopia Unit is located at the Pere Virgili Health Park in Barcelona and has 500 square meters, with seven consultation rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since it was launched in 2024 for people with more than six diopters and an axial length greater than 26 millimeters, it has treated more than 200 patients. EFE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barcelona.- Xavier P\u00e0mies’ six diopters went from being a vision problem, as is the case for a large part of the population, to becoming a series of retinal and glaucoma complications that threatened his visual health, in what is known as high myopia, where timely diagnosis is key. “I wouldn’t pass the test today if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133559,"featured_media":518480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-518479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2aSz","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GRAFCAT5093-ESPANA-SALUD-VISUAL222-1.webp","dum_api":{"author_name":"Preciosa Jimenez","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-26-at-5.31.56-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["Uncategorized"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/GRAFCAT5093-ESPANA-SALUD-VISUAL222-1.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}