Conditions/disorders which cause extreme short-sightedness (not necessarily myopia).

October 8, 2008 9:03 PM

I am searching for conditions/disorders which cause extreme short-sightedness (not necessarily myopia). I have interest in a research topic that uses computers to assist partially blind people.

I am doing research into using computer interaction in ways that benefit handicapped persons. One particular area of interest is in people with partial blindness, and specifically, those who can only see at short-distances. Obviously if correction is a possibility then the technology is still useful, but more as a backup rather than a necessity.

I have been doing some database searches (google scholar, pubmed, citeseer, etc...), but I am not familiar enough with the medical terminology to find information on such disorders. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

posted by noahdubya to health & fitness (6 comments total)

Nystagmus is a relatively common condition that causes nearsightedness that is not treated by glasses or contact lenses.
posted by lsemel at 9:19 PM on October 8, 2008

Optic neuritis and retinal detachment ought to be of interest to you. Many people with optic neuritis can be found in MS (multiple sclerosis) communities.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:22 PM on October 8, 2008

Macular degeneration has this effect. It is a degeneration of the central part of the retina, which is normally used for high-resolution visual tasks like reading. As a result, the patient becomes dependent on the edges of the retina. Since the edges have low resolution, computer screens etc. need to be very close and highly magnified.
posted by beniamino at 11:14 PM on October 8, 2008

Though it's not as medical a term as what others have suggested, you might get better results searching for "near sighted" than "short sighted". I think "short-sighted" is usually used to refer to people who act in ways that don't take the long-term future into account, whereas "near sighted" has to do with only being able to visually see things up close.
posted by vytae at 8:45 AM on October 9, 2008

Another term is "low vision."
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 9:59 AM on October 9, 2008

You may want to contact organizations that deal with low vision such as Lighthouse.
posted by lsemel at 7:15 PM on October 9, 2008