spectacles
眼鏡を日常的に掛けていると視力は悪くなっていくのでしょうか。記事のなかでは，多くの人々が感覚的に眼鏡をかけることにより視力が低下していくと感じているとあります。しかし，科学的にこのような根拠はなく，年齢に応じて視力は低下していくため，眼鏡を長く掛けている人にとっては眼鏡が原因で視力低下が起きていると考えがちになるということです。記事の中で気になった単語は"spectacles"です。『Wisdom第三版（三省堂）』によると「(複数形で)めがね」という意味がありました。"glasses"よりも形式ばった表現であるようです。（Ume）
Does wearing glasses weaken your eyesight?
Many people believe that the longer you wear spectacles the worse your eyesight becomes. But are they right? Claudia Hammond takes a clear look at the evidence.
There are lots of reasons why people don’t always wear their glasses. They might dislike the way they look, get teased or simply feel more comfortable without them. Beyond comfort and aesthetics, though, some fear that wearing glasses too often will weaken their eyesight, and that they will increasingly rely on them more often than when first worn.
A study from Nigeria published last year found 64% of students believed that wearing glasses can damage eyes. Research in the Indian state of Karnataka put the figure at 30%, and in Pakistan 69% of people feel the same way. In Brazil, even medical staff believed that your eyes would gradually get weaker as a consequence of wearing glasses. Is there any evidence to suggest they are right?
There are, of course, two very different reasons why people wear glasses – short-sightedness, or myopia, where things in the distance are blurry; and long-sightedness, or hyperopia, where you can’t focus on things close up. Long-sightedness is often age-related: many people begin noticing in their 40-50s that it’s difficult to read in low lighting. As we age the lenses in our eyes gradually stiffen, making it harder to adjust to different distances. When people get to the stage where their arms aren’t long enough to hold a book or menu far enough away to focus on the text, they opt for reading glasses.
