Eye Diseases

Table of Contents

• Eye Diseases
• Types of Eye Diseases
• Age-Related Macular Degeneration
• Bulging Eyes
• Glaucoma
• Lazy Eye

Like several parts of the body, the eye is also susceptible to infections or diseases. These infections could often be serious and must be dealt with care, and must be brought to the attention of a professional therapist.

Eye diseases often do not show early symptoms and sometimes even the pain does not exist because not many see any change in their vision until the disease has reached its final stage. Therefore, the best defence is to have regular eye checkups.

Also Read: Structure of the Eye

As per the medical records, around two to three million Americans, aged between 40-60 years and older are either legally blind or are with low vision. The main reason behind these eye diseases is primarily lifestyle, age-related and diabetes complications.

Here, in this article, let us learn about different Eye diseases’ names, their causes, symptoms and available cure or treatments.

The diseases or a disorder that destroy eye tissue and other parts of the eyes can be classified as eye diseases. There are different types of eye diseases, which can either be minor, which don’t last for a  longer time or some can also lead to a permanent loss of vision.

There are different factors behind the causes of eye diseases. These factors include age, stress, infections, heredity, nutritional deficiencies, injuries or accidents, etc.

Also Refer: Deficiency Diseases

There are different types of eye diseases that exist, all of these being common eye diseases.

The following is a list of human eye diseases’:

Macular degeneration is also known as an irregularity that affects the centre of the retina, which is called the Macula. The Macula is responsible for everyday acute vision.

There are two types of Macular Degeneration-

1. Dry Macular degeneration.
2. Wet Macular degeneration.

Causes of Macular Degeneration

Age, Smoking, Obesity, High blood pressure, Exposure to sunlight.

Symptoms of Macular Degeneration

• Blurred vision
• A dark or empty area in the central area of vision
• Distortion of straight lines

Treatments for Macular Degeneration

People suffering from Dry AMD continue with the aid of low vision optical devices. But Wet AMD is treated with injected medications or laser surgery by sealing off the leaking blood vessels.

Proptosis as is also known occurs due to the swelling of muscle fats and tissue behind the eye causing both eyes to protrude from the eye sockets leaving the cornea exposed to air, making it difficult to keep the eyes moist and lubricated.

Causes of Bulging Eyes

It has been linked to glaucoma, hyperthyroidism, and leukaemia the most common being Graves disease, a condition where thyroid glands mistakenly sense harmful cells and release antibodies which fuse to eye muscles causing inflammation.

Symptoms of Bulging Eyes

Common symptoms include the appearance of protruding eyes, Excessive dryness in the eyes, Visible whiteness between the top of the iris and the eyelid, Eye pain and Eye redness.

Treatments for Bulging Eyes

Lack of lubrication is the main problem hence artificial tears and eye drops are used for moisture and lubrication.

It is a situation which is caused by the damage to the eye’s optic nerve which gets severer over time. It is often associated with an increase in the pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma tends to be inherited and turns up late in life. There are four different types of Glaucoma which include Chronic open-angle glaucoma, Acute closed-angle glaucoma, Secondary glaucoma, and Normal-Tension glaucoma.

Causes of Glaucoma

All four types of glaucoma are caused by different reasons :

1. Chronic open-angle glaucoma results from a pressure build-up in the eye and causes severe vision loss without any symptoms.
2. Acute closed glaucoma appears all of a sudden which is very painful and extremely serious.
3. Secondary glaucoma arrives as a result of something else like medical conditions and injuries, or irregularities.
4. Normal-tension glaucoma is a unique condition of the eye which is caused by damage to an optic nerve. This may result in the loss of vision, caused by the intraocular pressure in the eye.

Symptoms of Glaucoma

 Blurred vision, severe eye pain, headache, rainbow halos, nausea, and vomiting.

Treatments for Glaucoma

Glaucoma could be treated with prescription eye drops which reduce eye pressure by slowing the production of fluids within the eye. Doctors also recommend highly focused laser beams to create an alternate hole in the iris. Surgery could treat glaucoma but could not reverse the existing damage.

This is a condition where there is a lack of vision in one eye because the eye and the brain stop working together, the brain ignores the image from the amblyopic eye which only affects one eye resulting in the amblyopic eye pointing away from the other thereby appearing “Lazy”.

Causes of Lazy Eye

There are various causes behind this condition like Strabismus (Crossed Eyes)  and cataracts, ptosis and refractive problems.

Symptoms of Lazy Eye

Symptoms include eyes that point in different directions, significant favouring of one eye, poor depth perception, and poor vision in one eye.

Treatments for Lazy Eye

Improved sight in a lazy eye could be accomplished however in certain cases an untreated eye might become dysfunctional, Best possible methods are by patching or covering the strong eye: This method forces the weaker eye to work harder hence strengthening its ability to move and focus. Contact lenses and eyeglasses in some cases require surgery to realign the muscles in the eye.

These are the most common eye disease types that are caused by several factors.

Listed below are the names of few eye diseases which are caused by immune system disorders, age-related and some may even result in permanent loss of vision. 

1. Floaters
2. Cataracts
3. Presbyopia
4. Conjunctivitis
5. Vision Changes
6. Colour blindness
7. Retinal disorders
8. Dry and Itchy Eyes
9. Optic nerve disorders
10. Macular degeneration

Learn more in detail about the human eye, its structure, functions and its disorders or any other related topics at BYJU’S Biology.