Common Eye Conditions and Disorders Quiz

Eye conditions can affect the health and function of the eyes, potentially leading to vision loss or blindness. Some common eye problems include refractive errors, strabismus, and age-related macular degeneration.

Refractive Errors

Refractive errors are the most common eye problems in the United States. These conditions result from structural problems with the eye that prevent light from focusing correctly on the retina. Refractive errors include:

• Nearsightedness or myopia: This is where distant objects look blurry.
• Farsightedness or hyperopia: This causes close objects to look blurry.
• Astigmatism: Due to an abnormal curvature of the cornea, distant and near objects may look blurry.
• Presbyopia: This is a natural and gradual loss of the ability to focus on nearby objects, typically after 40 years old.

Refractive errors can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or in some cases, surgery.

Strabismus

Strabismus is a condition where a lack of coordination between the eyes can cause them to become unbalanced, typically in infants. The condition can lead to amblyopia without treatment. Doctors might recommend glasses, contact lenses, medications, or surgery to help coordinate the eyes.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disorder associated with aging and results in damaging sharp and central vision. Central vision is needed for seeing objects clearly and for common daily tasks such as reading and driving. AMD affects the macula, the central part of the retina that allows the eye to see fine details.

There are two forms of AMD:

• Wet AMD: When abnormal blood vessels behind the retina start to grow under the macula, leading to blood and fluid leakage.
• Dry AMD: This results in the thinning of the macula, which blurs your central vision over time.

Dry AMD is more common than wet AMD, accounting for 70% to 90% of cases.

The leading causes of blindness and low vision in the United States are primarily age-related eye diseases such as cataract, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma.

Other Common Eye Disorders

Other common eye disorders include glaucoma, amblyopia, and strabismus.

Some common symptoms of eye problems include blurred or cloudy vision, double vision, seeing glare or a ring around lights, seeing floating spots, sensitivity to light, headaches, sore or tired eyes, difficulty focusing on a book or computer, and lazy eye.

Prevention and treatment of eye conditions involve measures such as getting a comprehensive dilated eye exam to check for any problems, being aware of risk factors, following a healthy diet, quitting smoking, exercising regularly, wearing sunglasses to protect eyes from the sun, wearing safety goggles and glasses when there is a risk of eye damage, taking breaks from focusing on something nearby every 20 minutes, and following basic hygiene steps to avoid eye infections.