Written by Editorial Team |Published : June 3, 2019 11:03 AM IST
According to a 2018 report by the World Health Organization (WHO), around 1.3 billion people live with some type of visual impairment across the globe. The estimates of this world body also suggest that 36 billion people live with distance vision blindness while 826 million people suffer from near vision impairment all over the world.
Experts and research have found that the leading cause of visual impairment are cataract and uncorrected refractive error, a condition where your eye fails to focus on a subject. You may suffer from a wide range of eye problems starting from mild to severe. The mild ophthalmological issues like eye strain and redness, conjunctivitis, etc. subside on their own. But serious disorders like cataract, glaucoma and retina-related issues need the immediate attention of an ophthalmologist. They may require surgical intervention too. They can lead to blindness if not treated on time.
Prolonged exposure to screen, inadequate rest to your eyes, improper diet, lack of exercise and poor brain function can lead to visual impairment. The most common eye-related complaint that people have today is computer vision syndrome. This is a condition where your eyes get tired due to the over usage of computer or laptop screens. However, there could be various other reasons behind visual impairment. Here, we give you a low-down about various diseases and conditions that could affect your eye health.
Hypertension is a condition where your blood pressure levels surge significantly. Normally, the symptoms of this condition are silent. However, you may experience signs like shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, chest pain, so on and so forth. In a study published in the Journal of Human Hypertension, it was revealed that high blood pressure levels can affect your retina, the area at the back of the eyes, where images are focussed on. This can lead to a condition known as hypertensive retinopathy. If the condition is in a mild to moderate state, then you may not experience any symptom. However, a severe form of hypertensive retinopathy may lead to headache and vision problems. It can be diagnosed through a routine eye check-up. Controlling your blood pressure is the best treatment. Like diabetes, elevated blood pressure levels can also damage the blood vessels around your eye causing visual impairment.
Diabetes is a condition in which your blood levels go up significantly. People living with diabetes for years are more likely to experience a condition called diabetic retinopathy where high blood glucose affects your blood vessels located in the retina. This can cause blurry vision or complete loss of vision. Also, diabetes can give you other vision problems like cataract and glaucoma. Experts in the field of ophthalmology are of the opinion that diabetic patients should get an eye check-up done every year. This is because they are more likely to experience vision impairment as compared to their healthy peers. If a person with diabetes has a history of ophthalmological problems, then the check-ups need to be more frequent.
Any autoimmune disorder can turn your own body against you. It can target any part of your body from your joints to eyes. If you are suffering from an autoimmune disorder, your immune cells, which have turned against you, can attack your retina. They can cause inflammation in the blood vessels of your retina, affecting your vision.
When you are diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, it is imperative that you should get yourself screened for your eye health at least twice a year. In a study, which was featured in the journal Handbook of Clinical Neurology, the researchers noted that autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus are the main culprits behind vision loss. Several studies reveal that women are 50 times more likely to suffer from an autoimmune disease than men. So they are more vulnerable to eye-related issues.
Generally, the eye disorders triggered by an autoimmune disorder have symptoms similar to those of other ophthalmological infections. These signs include red eyes, itchiness, and dry eyes. If left unaddressed, these normal symptoms can cause severe pain, sensitivity to light and even complete vision loss in some cases.
Cirrhosis of liver can be another health condition that can cause visual impairment. Your liver is the largest organ of the body responsible for digestion, energy preservation and removal of toxins. Liver cirrhosis is a condition where this organ fails to function properly. When your liver fails to carry out its duties, it can lead to loss of appetite, excessive fatigue, nausea and diarrhoea. It can also affect your eye health. As per the findings of a study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, due to the loss of synthetic function of liver, a cirrhosis patient can suffer from retinopathy, a medical term used to describe any damage that occurs in the retina of an eye.
It is a condition where red patches appear on your skin and in some cases, small bumps filled with pus can also pop-up on your face. This dermatological disorder can affect anyone irrespective of the gender and age. In a study published in the Turkish Journal of Ophthalmology, the researchers revealed that people living with rosacea are more likely to develop ocular rosacea. It is a condition that leads to red and itchy eyes along with swollen eyelids. In some cases, you may also spot a tiny pimple in the rim of your eyes. It is known as sty. There is no cure available for this condition. However, you can manage its symptoms with early diagnosis and medical help.
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