Browsing: Eye Health
The page provides quick access to a list of common eye diseases, syndromes, health conditions, and other topics of health importance. The list is organized alphabetically. Links are provided to respective diseases sections that serve as a comprehensive and ultimate guide about the disease or health condition.
Eyes are the most complex and essential sensory organ of our body. Several parts of the eye work together to produce a clear vision. Most people suffer from various types of eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, low vision and dry eye.
Visual impairment is a national and global health concern which creates a negative impact on the physical and mental health of an individual. These visually impaired people are at a high risk for chronic health conditions, accidents, social withdrawal, depression, and mortality.
Most people may experience an eye problem at some point in their life. Some of them may be minor conditions, which can be cured easily whereas others may require a specialist’s care. Eye disorders mostly occur in elderly people due to weakness of eye muscles or due to another medical condition such as diabetes, infections and brain or neuronal disorders.
It is ideal to undergo regular eye checkups, as many eye diseases do not show obvious symptoms. Early detection and treatment of eye problems could easily prevent vision loss.
Certain eye diseases which are quite prevalent worldwide include cataract, glaucoma, nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, diabetic retinopathy, dry eye syndrome, color blindness and conjunctivitis.
Conjunctivitis (pink eye infection) is a contagious disease that can spread in the environment widely. There are many causes of conjunctivitis such as bacteria, viruses, chemicals, pollutants from environment, use of contact lenses for a long time, Chlamydia, parasite, etc. Bacterial conjunctivitis is the most common of all forms of conjunctivitis.
Diabetic retinopathy is a chronic condition of the eye caused as a complication of diabetes. It leads to damage of the retina, which is a light sensitive tissue at the back of the eyes. In severe cases you may lose your sight. It occurs in more than half of the people who develop diabetes.
There are a variety of signs and symptoms of conjunctivitis. Many people usually think of them as normal eye irritation and ignore them. This sometimes results in adverse complications which can lead to eye damage. Redness in the white portion of the eye is the most common symptom of conjunctivitis.
Our eyes have a protective layer known as conjunctiva. It is a thin, transparent and moist layer that covers our eyes and keeps them moist. Conjunctiva helps the eyelids blink without any friction and also protects them from environmental pollutants. Infection of conjunctiva is called conjunctivitis. It is highly contagious.
You develop cataract when protein builds up in the lens of your eye and makes it cloudy. There are different types of cataracts which may be caused by different factors. Common causes are genetics, trauma, age, certain medical conditions such as diabetes, use of certain medicines, and exposure to radiations.
Color blindness is a condition in which a person is unable to differentiate between colors. Color blindness is not a form of complete blindness instead it is a deficiency which doesn’t allow a person to see certain specific colors such as yellow and blue or red and green.
Blindness due to diabetic retinopathy is very common in the United States and in some cases, it cannot be controlled by simple preventive measures. Anti-VEGF medications, laser treatment and vitrectomy (eye) surgery can be recommended for vision improvement.
Color blindness is a defect which occurs when the retina has fewer or none of at least one type of cone. This leads to loss of color spectrum. Research on monkeys and mice prove that gene therapy will benefit humans also but, there are some risks associated with it.
Colorblindness is often an inherited condition but if we specifically look for blue yellow colorblindness, more cases are occur as a result of non-genetic factors. It is a rare condition and is estimated to occur in about 1 in 30-50,000 persons.
There are three main kinds of color blindness broadly based on the types of photopigment defects that may be present in the three different kinds of cones of your eyes that respond to the different lights – blue, green, and red light. The cones recognize these lights based on their wavelengths. Check out how red blue color blind people perceive these colors.