Is myopia a genetic disease?

Q: I am a 24 years old boy. I started wearing thick minus glasses when I was barely 3 years old. Does that mean I developed high degree myopia at that tender age or does it indicate that I was born highly myopic? Is this condition genetic?

A:Myopia is caused by a large size of the eye ball and you are usually born with this condition but may also develop later. In your case, you were certainly born with myopia. Now that you are 24 years old, this should not get worse.With physical growth of the body, it tends to get worse with age. If the defect is more than -6.00 before 6 years of age, it may be pathological myopia which may affect vision in spite of glasses or contact lenses.It is also usually hereditary(genetic) but not always.