Eye defects are common among humans. It is ubiquitous to see people with spectacles or a contact lens. Nearly 50% of the Indian population have vision problems. The most common defect is a blur vision. Hyperopia and Presbyopia have similar symptoms, but there are a few significant differences between them.
Hyperopia vs Presbyopia
The main difference between Hyperopia and Presbyopia lies in the age span when this may affect human eyes. While Hyperopia also occurs due to old age, it is also commonly observed among youngsters and babies too. At the same time, Presbyopia occurs only due to old age.
Hyperopia is a common eye defect that is seen among people. It makes your vision blurry while seeing things at a close distance. While the objects at a distance can be seen clearly. Hyperopia is generally known as farsightedness. Hyperopia can develop with age and make even distant objects look blurry.
Presbyopia is also a common eye defect that develops as you age. It becomes noticeable as you reach 40 and above. It might also worsen as you reach 65 years. You shall not be able to see the nearby objects clearly as Hyperopia. People might develop strain in the eyes and even headache while trying to focus on the closer objects.
Comparison Table Between Hyperopia and Presbyopia
| Parameters of Comparison | Hyperopia | Presbyopia |
| Reason | Abnormality in the cornea or the lens of the eye. | Ageing is the primary reason for eye defect. |
| Reading Capacity | Can read in normal light | Requires brighter light to read |
| Age group | People of any age group is prone to develop Hyperopia. | People around 40 might develop Presbyopia. |
| Worst Case Symptoms | No significant worst-case symptoms | The symptoms get worse as people age. |
| Main Cause | Eyeball too short | The lens of the eyes loses its flexibility as people age. |
What is Hyperopia?
Hyperopia is a problem in the vision that makes the nearby objects look blurry. It is indeed a very common eye problem that affects children too. A person with Hyperopia can see distant objects. The eye loses its focusing ability to see nearby objects.
The major symptom of Hyperopia is a person with this problem shall have a headache or eye strain while focusing on the objects that are in close range. You may also squint your eye to see those objects. Though this vision problem is only with the shorter range objects, you can still read in normal room illumination.
Hyperopia is mainly caused due to these three reasons
- When the cornea becomes less powerful
- When the lens becomes less powerful
- When the eyeball is shorter
Any of these three reasons or all the three can cause Hyperopia. It is significantly not identified during the formative years. But as you age, it might be prominent. This defect can be treated with appropriate spectacles or contacts lenses.
Medical science has also proved that many children are born with this eye defect. As you can see the distant objects, the vision problem is also called Farsightedness.
What is Presbyopia?
Presbyopia is a vision problem that makes you lose focus to see nearby objects. That means to say you will not be able to see the objects in close range. This can be related to Hyperopia. However, this happens as you grow old.
Presbyopia is considered normal and natural as you age. Your eye shall lose its ability gradually and make it a lot difficult as you grow over 60 years. The main symptoms of Presbyopia are
- You tend to hold the reading materials farther than usual
- The normal seeing distance shall get blurry
- You may also end up having headache or eye strains as you focus on nearby objects
As you get old, the cornea and the lens tend to get harder. Though it is a natural occurrence in the human body, the more the rigidity forms, Presbyopia occurs. The cornea and lens need to be flexible to pass the light rays appropriately. Once it loses it, you tend to find it difficult to see the objects close by.
Though Presbyopia is considered to occur as you age, there are a few other reasons to develop such vision problems. Medical conditions like Diabetes, Multiple sclerosis can improve the chances of Presbyopia at an early age too. Also, intake of antidepressants, antihistamines and diuretics can cause Presbyopia too.
Presbyopia can lead to serious vision loss when it is left unattended. It is also estimated that there are around 10.2% of Indian adults suffer from such vision problems.
Main Differences Between Hyperopia and Presbyopia
- The main difference between Hyperopia and Presbyopia is the former can affect even children while the latter is mostly an age-related vision problem.
- Hyperopia shall never get worse as you grow old, while Presbyopia worsens and reaches its peak as you reach 65 years.
- There are no other sicknesses that shall cause Hyperopia, while Presbyopia can be caused due to Diabetes and other related sicknesses too.
- A person with Hyperopia can correct the vision problem by wearing an appropriate spectacle while Presbyopia requires medical attention, and one might not see the closeby objects even after wearing the spectacles.
- The reading material can be kept at a normal distance in the case of Hyperopia, while Presbyopia requires a person to keep the reading material a lot farther than the normal distance.
Conclusion
Eye defects, though considered common, requires a lot of medical attention. The cases of Hyperopia does not have any grave effects as you age, but Presbyopia without proper attention shall lead to vision loss. There are a lot of corrective measures for both defects.
Though spectacle is the best-suited measure for Hyperopia, Presbyopia many times require refractive surgery. Although multifocal lenses are available in the medical world, Presbyopia requires quick attention as it tends to make life difficult as you grow old.
References
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02713689808951218
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698997001028