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Home / Health
Blindness: Escaping Darkness
By:James Monahan
Almost half of the population of blind people in the United States is over sixty five years of age. A figure that may well support the fact that blindness generally occurs as the year in one’s life advances. Americans,the young, the adult, and the old are all victims of blindness.
Before we get hit by this, we should check on its causes and cures to be able to deal with it.
What can cause blindness?
Cataract
Among the known causes of blindness is cataract, and is probably the most common among the listed. Although some people are born with it, cataracts often occur as aging takes place.
This disorder is caused by a form blocking the passage of light which enables the eye to see, when this passage is blocked, the eye’s lens become cloudy, thus, resulting to opaque, blurred, doubled or dimmed vision.
But not all people with cataract are suggested to undergo surgery, except for those serious cases that may lead to major visual problems.
Ophthalmologists would often require them to undergo surgical removal of lens, use corrective glasses or contact lenses, or the replacement of intraocular lens.
Glaucoma
Another cause of blindness is known as Glaucoma. It is said to be a very severe cause of blindness that nearly 8% of the blind population are hit by this disorder.
Glaucoma takes place when our eye drainages are clogged and form pressure around and within the eye.
Since the front part of the eye is normally supplied with a transparent fluid, one’s vision becomes blurred and damage, eventually resulting in complete blindness because of the pressure brought in by clogged drainages.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Many of us are aware of the symptoms, causes, and cure for diabetes. But only a few know that diabetes can actually cause blindness. This is because our retina may burst and totally get wrecked when different changes occur in our tiny blood vessels, seriously causing blindness.
When strange blood vessels are formed, the retina tends to break loose and detach itself from the back part of the eye. Experts have discovered several laser treatments to cure this blindness-leading disorder.
And one known treatment for this is the process called “sealing of blood vessels”, preventing them from bursting. And re-attacking the retina from where it was detached.
Macular Degeneration
A person with this blindness-causing disorder is more like a malfunctioned camera which either ran out of film, or have dirty lenses giving the photographer a blurred vision of what he is about to take picture of.
The Macula is a part of the retina which plays a vital role in forming the sharpest vision and focal point of the picture. Usually, macular degeneration arises in the aging years.
This disorder takes place slowly, by will not result to total blindness or dark peripheral vision. People affected with this disorder uses magnifying lenses to save them from blindness.
In some cases, under going laser treatments will help them restore perfect vision as the worn out tissues on the macular area are being cast away, and replaced by new ones.
Retinitis Pigmentosa
Retinitis Pigmentosa is also popularly known as “night blindness”. This disorder occurs when “excessive” or unnecessary pigments are strangely developed in the eye, thus leads to the degeneration of the choroids (the eye’s vascular area) and of the retina.
Blindness caused by Retinitis Pigmentosa is known to be hereditary, due to the variety of patterns of inheritance that develops in the genetic materials.
Usually, the common pattern of the development of Retinitis Pigmentosa takes place at around age 10 or 12. At this point, the person will encounter difficulty in seeing things at night and in some areas which are not well lighted.
Eventually, it will result in the narrowing of the visual field and experiencing “tunnel vision”. This disorder may not be obvious during the first stages, but the visual loss or blindness will rapidly take place. People who are suffering with this disorder usually go blind as early as the young adulthood stages.
Everyday, a throng of 50,000 Americans go blind. Today, there are more than 5 known causes of blindness, and only a few are totally treated.
The eyes play a vital role in our life, for without them we will not be able to define ‘beauty.” Taking care of your eyes and seeing a doctor regularly for eye check ups will help prevent blindness.
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Article keywords: blindness, blind, Ophthalmologists, glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
James Monahan is the owner and Senior Editor of
EBlindness.com and writes expert
articles about blindness.
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