PhD defence J.R. (Jan) Polling

Myopia is becoming a major epidemic not only in Asia but also in many other parts of the world. The increasing incidence of myopia is directly related to changes in the lifestyle of children, they play too little outside and spend too much time indoors looking at their screens. There is concern about the increasing prevalence of myopia because people with myopia are more likely to develop sight-threatening complications later in life, such as retinal detachment, glaucoma and myopic macular degeneration. Therefore, there is an urgent need for interventions that inhibit myopia progression. Although there is a lot of evidence about which therapies are effective, little has been implemented in the daily practice of eye care providers.
This thesis describes what eye problems are occurring in early childhood and how the eye develops and how this effects myopic refractive error in adulthood. Furthermore, it provides studies on how high dose atropine can be applied for myopia control and what can be recommended for practitioners with respect to management of myopia progression.

The PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall at campus Woudestein or in the Professor Andries Querido Room at the Erasmus MC. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.