Myopia is a vision problem that has an effect on about one-third of the population. This condition often sets in at childhood and is one that many of your family and friends suffer from everyday. Even I experience it everyday. However, myopia is normally not life-threatening or even hazardous to your health. Myopia is nothing more than nearsightedness.

Myopia occurs because of the shape of the eyeball. Instead of a `normal' shaped eyeball, the myopic eyeball is slightly longer. This results in light rays focusing in front of the retina, instead of directly on it. Because the image is focused directly in front of the retina, objects that are close up appear clear while objects in the distance are blurry.

Myopia is thought by most professionals to be mainly caused by genetics. Donald Mutti, lead author of the study and Ohio State University's associate professor of optometry, conducted...