Eye Diseases PDF

Eye Diseases  Common Eye Diseases and Vision Problems There are hundreds of different eye diseases and vision problems. Some have no cure, but many others are treatable. You can assist in your own eye health by following a healthy lifestyle and seeing your eye care professional on a regu...

Eye Diseases  Common Eye Diseases and Vision Problems There are hundreds of different eye diseases and vision problems. Some have no cure, but many others are treatable. You can assist in your own eye health by following a healthy lifestyle and seeing your eye care professional on a regular basis and any time your vision changes.  How common are eye diseases and conditions? More than 3.4 million people in the U.S. age 40 and older meet the definition of “legal blindness” (visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better-seeing eye or visual field of 20 degrees or less) or have corrected vision (visual acuity of 20/40 or less), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 7% of U.S. children under the age of 18 have been diagnosed with an eye disease or condition. Nearly 3% of children under 18 are blind or whose vision is impaired. Vision loss is among the top 10 causes of disability in the U.S in adults over the age of 18 and one of the most common disabling conditions in children. The good news is that it’s never too late to start taking care of your eye health. Regular eye health appointments and eye exams can lead to early diagnosis. This is key to correcting or slowing most eye conditions. Always see your eye care professional if your vision problem lasts for more than a few days or worsens.  What are some of the most common eye diseases? The four most common eye conditions leading to loss of vision or blindness are: Cataracts. Diabetes-related retinopathy. Glaucoma. Age-related macular degeneration. However, there are hundreds of different eye diseases and disorders  What is macular degeneration? Macular degeneration (also called age-related macular degeneration or AMD) is an eye disease that affects your central vision. It damages the macula, which is the center area of your retina that allows you to see fine details. It’s the leading cause of vision loss in people over the age of 60. Macular degeneration can either be wet or dry. Wet AMD happens when abnormal blood vessels grow under the macula and leak blood and fluid. This damages the macula and leads to loss of central vision. Dry AMD results in the thinning of the macula, which blurs your central vision over time. Dry AMD is more common than the wet form, accounting for 70% to 90% of cases. Symptoms of AMD, which usually aren’t noticed until the disease has progressed, include: Blurred central vision. Black or dark spots in the center part of your field of vision. Wavy or curved appearance to straight lines. Although there is no cure, treatment can slow the progress of disease or prevent severe vision loss. Recent advances have been made in the treatment of wet AMD using intraocular injections of anti-VEGF medications  What is a cataract? A cataract is a clouding of your eye’s lens. This cloudy lens can develop in one or both eyes. Cataracts are the world’s leading cause of blindness. In the U.S., cataracts is the leading cause of reversible vision loss. Cataracts can occur at any age and even be present at birth, but are more common in people over the age of 50. Symptoms of a cataract include: Cloudy/blurry vision. Glare around lights at night. Trouble seeing at night. Sensitivity to bright light. Need for bright light to read. Changes to the way you see color. Frequent changes to your eyeglass prescription. Surgery to remove and replace the cloudy lens with an artificial lens is highly successful with more than 90% of people seeing better after cataract removal.  What is diabetes-related retinopathy? Diabetes-related retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes. It’s one of the leading causes of blindness in adults in the U.S. Diabetes-related retinopathy is a disease in which there’s ongoing damage to blood vessels in the retina due to long-term unmanaged high sugar (glucose) levels in your blood. Your retina is the light-sensitive tissue in your eye that is needed for clear vision. Most people with diabetes-related retinopathy show no vision changes until the disease is severe. In others, symptoms come and go. Symptoms include: Blurred or distorted vision. New color blindness or seeing colors as faded. Poor night vision. Small dark spots or streaks in your vision. Trouble reading or seeing faraway objects. Treatments include injections of a specific type of medication and surgery that addresses repairing or shrinking blood vessels in the retina.  What is glaucoma? Glaucoma is an eye disease that results from higher-than-normal fluid pressure in the eye. The pressure damages your optic nerve, which affects how visual information is transmitted to your brain. Undetected and untreated glaucoma can lead to vision loss and blindness in one or both eyes. Glaucoma often runs in families. There are two main types of glaucoma. Open-angle glaucoma develops slowly over time and you may not notice vision change until the disease is far along. Closed-angle glaucoma can happen suddenly. It’s painful and causes loss of vision very quickly. Symptoms include: Eye pain or pressure. Headaches. Red eyes. Rainbow-colored halos around lights. Low vision, blurred vision, tunnel vision, blind spots. Nausea and vomiting. Treatments focus on reducing eye pressure and include prescription eye drops, laser therapy and surgery.  What is retinal detachment? Retinal detachment is a separation or detachment of the retina from its underlying tissues that hold it in place within your eye. This is a serious eye condition that can lead to blindness if not treated. You may or may not have symptoms, depending on the severity of the detachment. Symptoms include: Seeing flashes of light. Seeing dark spots or squiggly lines drifting across your vision. Darkening/covering of part of your vision or your side vision. Treatments include laser therapy or different surgical approaches to seal or close the retinal tear and reattach the retina.  What are the most common eye conditions in children? Eye conditions commonly seen in children include: Amblyopia: Amblyopia (also called “lazy eye”) happens when your child’s brain and one eye aren’t working together properly and the brain favors the other better-seeing eye. They'll have reduced vision in the non-favored eye. This is the most common cause of vision impairment in children. Strabismus: Strabismus is a lack of coordination between your child’s eyes, which causes the eyes to cross or turn out. Your child’s eyes don’t focus together on a single image at the same time. This can cause reduced 3D vision and/or the brain may favor one eye over the other, which can cause loss of vision in the non-favored eye (amblyopia, see above). Conjunctivitis: Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is an inflammation of the clear tissue that lines the inside surface of your eyelid and the outer coating of your eye. This tissue is called conjunctiva. It helps keep your eyelid and eyeball moist. Pink eye can be highly contagious, especially among children. Although it doesn’t damage vision, it causes itchy, red, blurry, tearing and discharge