Is Myopia Hereditary?
APR 04, 2014
Question:
Is myopia hereditary (passed from parent to child)? If not, what are the other possible causes and why have cases of myopia increased since 1970s?
Answer:
Myopia (or nearsightedness) can be hereditary but not like the color of eyes or color blindness, which is more reliably passed from parent to child. Myopia is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. It seems to filter down through many generations. As such, we really have no idea of why myopia increases over time. However, hyperopes (farsighted people) outnumber we myopes (nearsighted people).