Eye disorders or diseases are of a vast variety. Glaucoma, cataract, and refractive errors are the main causes of preventable blindness and visual impairment. It has been seen that cataract is the major cause of blindness which accounts for about 66.2% of cases of blindness and around 80.7% of cases are found to be severe visual impairment.
Types of eye disease and their symptoms
There are mainly four types of common eye disease or conditions which leads to vision loss or blindness and these are the following.
AMD or Age-related macular degeneration
Macular degeneration or AMD is an eye disease that impacts the central vision of an individual. It can damage your macula which is the center area of the retina of your eye which helps in seeing the fine details. This is mainly the major cause of vision loss among people the age of 60 or more.
Moreover, macular degeneration can be wet and can also be dry. Wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels develop within the macula and leak fluid and blood. It damages the macula which further leads to vision loss or vision impairment.
Dry AMD majorly results in the thinning of the macula that blurs the central vision with time. It is a very common condition than wet. It has been accounted that 70 to 90% of cases of AMD. Below are the symptoms of this eye disease..
- 1. Black central vision.
- 2. Curved or wavy appearance to straight lines.
- 3. Dark or black spots in the center part of your way of vision.
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Cataracts
A cloudy lens over your eyes is known as a cataract. The cloudy lens can occur in both eyes. This condition of the eye is the major cause of blindness. It can develop at any age and may also present from birth. However, it is found more common among older age groups.
The following are the symptoms of cataract:
- 1. Glare around light during the night.
- 2. Sensitivity in bright light.
- 3. Changes in your way of seeing colors.
- 4. Blurry or cloudy vision.
- 5. Difficulty in seeing at night.
- 6. Difficulty in reading and need bright light to read.
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Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disease that results from higher than the normal fluid pressure in your eyes. The pressure can affect or damage your optic nerve, this affects how visual information gets transmitted to your brain. Furthermore, untreated and undetected glaucoma may lead to vision impairment or vision loss. Open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma are the two main kinds of glaucoma. The following are the symptoms of this glaucoma.
- 1. Headaches
- 2. Red eyes
- 3. Eye pressure or pain
- 4. Halos around light
- 5. Vomiting and nausea
- 6. Blurred vision, tunnel vision, low vision, and blind spots.
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Diabetes-related retinopathy
This is a very common condition or complication of diabetes. This is the major cause of blindness and is majorly faced by adults. Diabetes-related retinopathy is a kind of disease that causes damage to your blood vessels because of long-term and imbalanced levels of blood.
Your retina is found to be a very sensitive tissue of your eyes that is required for clear vision or eyesight. Most of the time people with this condition show no changes in their vision until the condition becomes severe. Below are the signs and symptoms of the above condition.
- 1. Poor vision at night.
- 2. Difficulty in seeing far objects.
- 3. Distorted and blurred vision.
- 4. Color blindness.
- 5. Streaks or small dark spots in your vision.
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Eye disease treatment
Cataract treatment
As per a survey, you can only get rid of cataracts through surgery. However, you may not need to get this surgery immediately. In the initial stages, you will need to make small changes for preventing or managing the cataract such as using brighter lights while working, wearing eye protection glasses or anti-glare glasses, and using magnifying lenses for reading. If these ways did not work then you can use eyeglasses as per your doctor’s prescription. At last, surgery can be the only option where your surgeon will remove the clouded lens and replace it with an artificial lens.
Glaucoma treatment
If you are having glaucoma, then you must start treating it as it will help in stopping the condition from getting worse. Initially, you can use eye drops as per your doctor’s prescription. It will help in lowering the pressure in your eyes which will further prevent your optic nerve from being damaged. Furthermore, laser treatment is another option for treating or curing glaucoma. During this treatment, your doctor will use lasers to drain the fluid out from your eyes. Moreover, if laser and other treatments are not working then surgery can help in treating this condition.
AMD or Age-related macular degeneration
There has been no current treatment found for early AMD however, your doctor will keep track of your eyes by conducting regular eye exams. Till then you must have a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and quit smoking as it will help in managing the situation. Furthermore, if you are having wet AMD then the following treatments can help in managing this condition.
- 1. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), is a combination of laser treatment and injections.
- 2. Medicines such as anti-VEGF drugs which will be injected into your eyes by your doctor are another treatment that can help in treating this condition.
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Causes of Eye Disease
- 1. Allergy, deficiency of vitamins, infection, genetics, chemical irritants, and smoking are some of the common reasons or causes of eye problems.
- 2. Xerophthalmia is the major cause of blindness among children. This is majorly caused because of deficiency of vitamin A.
- 3. Dietary deficiency of proteins, vitamin E, B, and C, and hereditary, UV-Rays, may cause cataracts.
- 4. High aqueous production and the obstruction of their outflow from the eye may cause an increase in IOP (intraocular pressure), which can further cause glaucoma. With time, high eye pressure may lead to irreversible nerve damage and vision impairment.
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Thyroid Eye Disease
Thyroid eye disease is abbreviated as TED. This is a kind of autoimmune disease that is majorly caused by the activation of orbital fibroblasts by autoantibodies directed against the thyroid receptors. This is a very rare disease that has an incidence rate of about 19 among 100,000 people every year as per studies.
This disorder is characterized by enlargement of fatty, connective tissue volume, and extraocular muscles. TED is very frequently associated with hyperthyroidism, containing approximately 90% of cases.
Eye Signs in Graves Disease
Graves disease is an immune system disorder that may result in the overproduction of thyroid hormones. Though various disorders may result in hyperthyroidism graves condition or disease is the major or common cause. The thyroid hormones impact various body systems, symptoms, and signs of this disease. Though this disease can impact anyone it is found to be more common among younger people and women compared to older people.
Symptoms and signs of Grave disease are the following
- 1. Sleep disturbance.
- 2. Change in menstrual cycles.
- 3. Frequent bowel movements.
- 4. Fatigue.
- 5. Irregular or rapid heartbeat.
- 6. Irritability and anxiety.
- 7. Bulging eyes.
- 8. Weight loss instead of normal eating habits.
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Eye Diseases in Children
- 1. Lazy eye (Amblyopia)
- 2. Crossed eyes (Strabismus)
- 3. Droopy eyelid (Ptosis)
- 4. Cloudy eyes (cataract)
- 5. Pink eye (conjunctivitis)
- 6. Blocked tear duct
- 7. Chalazion and stye
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Conclusion
It can be concluded that there is four main common eye disease such as Diabetes-related retinopathy, Glaucoma, Cataracts, and Age-related macular degeneration. It has been found that cataract is the major cause of blindness. Furthermore, if you are not able to treat eye conditions at home or by other treatments then you must consult with your doctor. Glamyo Health can be the suitable destination for eye related treatments or surgeries. We provide free OPD consultation to our patients, personalized care, free pick-up and drop facility, and post-surgery follow-ups.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are different types of eye problems?
Refractive errors, glaucoma, amblyopia, cataract, etc. are different types of eye problems.
What are some rare eye diseases?
Graves eye disease, coloboma, retinitis pigmentosa, etc are rare eye diseases.
What is the worse eye disease?
As per studies, cataract is the major cause of blindness around the world. So it can be considered the worse eye disease.
What are the symptoms of serious eye problems?
Crossed eyes, change in iris color, double vision, dry eyes, etc. are some symptoms of serious eye problems.
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