Eye Diseases
Macular Degeneration
This is a slowly progressive degeneration or "wear and tear" process affecting the macula. It is seen in older people and is related in some to smoking. Whilst a lot is known about how macular degeneration affects vision, very little is known about what causes macular degeneration. Rarely it is transmitted through families. There are some known genetic predisposing factors.
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Cataracts
A smudge in the lens of the eye. It was originally given this name because the vision through a cataract was equated to looking through a waterfall. There are many causes for cataract but the most common cause is hardening of the lens with age. This is called "sclerosis" and is seen as a yellow brown discolouration of the normally mostly transparent lens.
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Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of diseases characterised by a build up of pressure within the eye such that nerve cells in the back of the eye slowly die. It can affect people of all ages but is most common after age 40. Untreated glaucoma can cause blindness but thanks to modern eyedrop preparations most cases of glaucoma are easily treated and controlled.
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Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease which affects persons with diabetes. It is the leading cause of new cases of blindness over all ages groups. Diabetes weakens the lining of the blood vessels in the retina causing leaking of fluid, lipid (cholesterol) and blood into the retina and macula. It also causes decrease in circulation to the retina (ischemia).
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Macular Hole
It is best thought of as a deficiency of tissue in the retina, affecting the most visually important region called the macula. It is caused by tractional forces around the macula, after ageing changes occur in the vitreous gel of the eye. Macular hole is completely different to macular degeneration.
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Premacular Fibrosis
Quite simply it is wrinkling and thickening of the retina caused by a membrane that grows on the surface of the retina. The retina is normally smooth and flat like a sheet of paper, but in this condition it becomes more like a corrugated iron roof. In most cases the membrane forms after ageing changes occur in the vitreous gel of the eye. Occasionally, the membrane forms after other eye diseases. Premacular fibrosis is completely different to macular degeneration.
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Retinal Detachment
Retinal Detachments occurs as a result of vitreoretinal traction where the gel filling the eye, called the vitreous, pulls and tugs of a tear of the retina, usually in the periphery. This allows fluid to perculate thru the tear, with subsequent detaching of the retina (analogous to wall paper coming off a wall). It is not known why some people get retinal detachments however, there are many risk factors including increasing age (with liquefication of the vitreous gel), diabetes, high myopia (near sightness), inflammation, and of course trauma.
Retinal Vein Occlusion
Retinal vein occlusion occurs when the circulation of a retinal vein becomes obstructed by an adjacent blood vessel, causing hemorrhages in the retina. Swelling and ischemia (lack of oxygen) of the retina as well as glaucoma are fairly common complications.
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Retinitis Pigmentosa
RP is a retinal degeneration, often hereditary, which affects the photoreceptors (rods and cones) which are the light sensing receptors. Usually, but not always, the rod receptors are affected first causing progressive decrease vision during dark hours, that is ‘night blindness’. There is also loss of peripheral vision leading to tunnel vision.
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Uveitis
Uveitis is an inflammation of the inner eye, which includes the iris, the ciliary body that holds the lens of the eye and the choroid plexus, a network of blood vessels surrounding the eyeball. Uveitis exudates into the anterior chamber and causes discoloration of the iris and a constricted, sluggish pupil.
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Central Serous Retinopathy
Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR) is a poorly understood but very common condition affecting adult healthy males. It can uncommonly affect females. It presents with blurring of vision in one eye often accompanied by a grey or brown central area of dim vision, distortion of vision, and the awareness of things looking smaller with the affected eye than with the normal eye.
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Basic Genetics
There are several types of inheritance of defective genes that are commonly seen causing some eye diseases. However it is not always possible to reliably determine which mode of inheritance is responsible in a given individual or family, particularly when only one person is affected.
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Pterygium
A pterygium is a form of scar tissue with blood vessels, which grows towards the cornea and then into the cornea. It can be a source of irritation and redness, which can flare up from time to time. It can also be a cosmetic problem, and, occasionally, it can lead to visual distortion by altering corneal shape. In doing this, it can cause irregular corneal astigmatism. For a pterygium to become bad enough to cause visual distortion is unusual, as they mostly never proceed to this level.
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