What are Eye Problems?

Eye Symptoms

Blindness

Blindness or partial sight may have many causes and be a feature of other problems which involve the whole body, such as stroke, diabetes and MS.

Eye Infections and Inflammations

Infections and inflammationscan range from the mild and selflimiting conjunctivitis to conditions that progress to blindness such as leprosy and trachoma which are common causes in the third world. Optic neuritis which can be a sign of multiple sclerosis, especially where the colour vision is affected. This is not colour blindness which is an inherited problem where red and green cannot be distinguished and is not progessive.

Inherited Conditions

Inherited conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, and tay sachs disease can cause visual problems and progress to blindness.

Tumours

Tumours of all sorts can affect the eye. For example, retinoblastoma is a malignant tumour affecting the retina.

Degenerative Problems

Degenerative problems occur in the eye as all other parts of the body. Cataracts occur when the lens becomes cloudy due to age and macular degeneration when the retina wears out. These are common problems of the older age groups.

Visual Problems especially blindness bring special anxieties and difficulties to life, best supported by those who know what it is like both from the perspective of the person who is blind or partially sighted and also their families, carers and friends.