What are the causes of vision impairment

Visual perception in a person's life is perhaps the most important among the sense organs that affect the quality of life. Since information about the world around us comes mainly through sight (up to 80%), even minor deviations and visual impairments are reflected in everyday affairs by the most negative way.

Deviations

Good eyesight allows a person to fully engage in any business, choose their favorite profession, lead a familiar lifestyle, without caring for the burden on the visual organ.However, in a person with abnormalities in visual perception, the list of permitted activities is limited or possible if certain conditions are met.Sometimes such deviations arise due to an incorrect lifestyle or age-related changes, but often children are already born with visual impairments.

Congenital

Frequency of deviations of the congenital character in childhood is from 2 to 4%. Among the factors that influence the formation of visual pathologies are:

• Poor heredity;
• Intrauterine infections (syphilis, toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus);
• Intoxication (fatal alcohol syndrome);
• Vascular diseases;
• Traumatic disorders (paracentesis damage);
• Endocrine diseases (for example, diabetes mellitus).

Negative influence on the visual apparatus of the fetus can be provided by chemical substances with unfavorable ecology or taking certain medicinal preparations.

Among the most common congenital abnormalities are:

• Cataract. The turbidity of the lens is manifested by a change in the color of the pupil to grayish. At the same time, visual perception is disturbed, and the child begins to linger in development. Therefore, the treatment is performed surgically and consists of replacing the lens with an implant;
• Glaucoma. Because of the increase in IOP, there is an increase in the size of the eyes, as well as the opacity of the cornea (the formation of a thorn). It is also treated surgically;
• Nystagmus.Frequent fluctuations of the eyeballs in the horizontal direction (rarely - circular or vertical movements). Due to the lack of a fixed look, a clear central vision of the child can not form;
• Hyperopia of high degree and congenital myopia. In the absence of clarity of the image, which comes to the retina, there is a decrease in visual acuity and the development of refractive amblyopia. To reduce the consequences of such violations, timely diagnostics and constant correction are required. In this case, the formation of good visual functions is possible;
• Astigmatism.Pathology develops when the refractive power of the eye is disturbed and can be caused by an irregular shape of the cornea, lens or eyeball. In the presence of astigmatism in one of the parents, the probability of developing a visual defect in a child is about 50%;
• Color blindness.It is a defect in the retina and is caused by a lack or complete absence of color pigment in the cones (nerve cells). Rarely it is complete, more often there is an absence or weakening of one of the three colors perceived by the human eye;
• Atrophy of the optic nerve. It develops mainly as a result of lesions of the brain (its visual cortex) and can cause complete blindness. Treatment is performed using vasodilator, stimulating and nootropic therapy.

The visual body of the child is formed almost to adulthood, but its greatest plasticity is in the first years of life (5-7 years). Therefore, preventive examinations at the ophthalmologist are mandatory for early detection of possible abnormalities in vision.

Purchased

If the congenital pathology of the eye is most often the result of poor heredity or fetal developmental disorders, the acquired abnormalities of visual perception in most cases are due to the slowness of parents, age changes in old age, and also because of the banal negligent attitude to health.

Among the most common violations of visual perception are:

• Nearsightedness (myopia).A person sees well near and badly into the distance as a result of the shift of focus to the space in front of the retina. Such a disorder can occur with the elongated form of the eyeball and is most often manifested in adolescence. Although the defect is due to a genetic disease, it can progress to a significant loss of vision and disability if left inactive;
• Farsightedness.Contrary to popular belief, at far-sightedness, visual perception is disturbed not only near, but also far away, especially in old age. Most often, such a defect is the result of age-related changes with loss of elasticity by the lens. In childhood, hyperopia is usually observed in all children, but decreases to school age and does not progress, as the size of the eyeball increases;
• Astigmatism.The violation of the shape of the cornea or lens leads to a distortion and vagueness of the visual image on the retina. Such a defect can arise as a result of trauma, some infections, in the postoperative period;
• Amblyopia (lazy eye)."Disabling" the brain center of one eye to get a good image with astigmatism;
• Strabismus.Another complication of astigmatism, characteristic of childhood. With the plasticity of the visual system, all attempts by the child to obtain a qualitative picture by reducing the eyes to one point can take a permanent character.

Exotropia

The number of acquired defects can include visual impairments due to changes in the lens, cornea, retina, blood vessels and other eye structures that play a significant role in ensuring the quality of the visual perception.

Causes

The visual acuity depends on a number of factors, both external and internal, but most often this is undoubtedly a change in physiology. Although in some cases, a traumatic or infectious lesion is possible.

Constant fatigue

The eye fatigue syndrome is well known to those whose working day passes behind the computer.Often the work continues even after the end of work, and upon coming home the worker again turns on the computer or TV and "rest". However, the eyes still work, and with such an intense load protest: blush, in them there is burning and dryness, painful sensations caused by increased intraocular and arterial pressure.

The consequence of this treatment with the visual body is the deterioration of vision: vagueness of contours, fogging, development or strengthening of existing visual defects.

Symptoms of eye fatigue syndrome

Attenuation of the muscles of the lens

Overexertion of the eyes (for example, when working at a computer) can lead to the development of a spasm of accommodation. The ciliary muscle responsible for the degree of curvature of the lens, at a constant voltage, gradually loses the ability to contract or stretch. Thus, false myopia appears, which for a short period of time can be transformed into a permanent visual defect.

Prevent the spasm of accommodation is simple enough - breaks lasting 10 minutes. every hour with hard eye work, as well as special relaxing techniques.

Dry mucosa

On the surface of the conjunctiva and at the edge of the eyelids are special glands that produce a tear fluid, which is necessary for the eyes to work normally. When blinking, it is distributed evenly over the entire surface of the mucosa and provides a comfortable sensation in the eyes.

With some systemic diseases, age or hormonal changes, infectious infections, the development of tear fluid can be disrupted.This, in turn, can cause damage to the cornea and a decrease in the quality of vision, and in some cases - its loss.

Syndrome Dry Eye

Deterioration of blood circulation

The importance of blood circulation for the work of the eyes is enormous - the quality of the eye structures and the supply of oxygen to them depend on its quality. Vascular diseases immediately affect the visual perception of the development of eye pathologies: angiopathy of the retina (hypertonic and diabetic), central vein thrombosis, ocular ischemic syndrome, etc.

Retinal aging

Disease, which develops as a result of age-related vascular changes, is called macular degeneration. In the process of aging, vascular changes do not allow the eye to supply the necessary nerve fibers in the required amount to the nerve network with such intensity.Because of this, dystrophic changes begin, leading, ultimately, to a decrease in visual acuity.

Macular degeneration of the eye

Injuries

The structures of the eye are very fragile and even after regeneration they can not often recover in full.Damage can be either penetrating or superficial. However, this does not reduce their danger.

Reduction of vision, in addition to direct mechanical effects and foreign body penetration, can trigger burns: thermal, chemical, radiation, ultraviolet.

Eye diseases

Among the diseases that affect the quality of visual perception, include pathological changes in the cornea, lens or retina:

• Cataract- clouding of the lens, developing as a result of age-related changes;
• Corneal opacity- the second name of "thorn" on the eye of a person, appears with progressive inflammations of various etiologies;
• Diabetic retinopathy- damage to the vessels of the eyeball in diabetes, observed in 90% of patients;
• Glaucoma- a number of diseases accompanied by a constant or periodic increase in IOP and, as a result, atrophy of the optic nerve;
• Trachoma- chlamydial infection, affecting the cornea and conjunctiva with severe complications: scarring of cartilage of eyelids and conjunctiva, and after - complete blindness;
• Uveitis- A group of diseases affecting the choroid of the eye. It presents difficulties due to the complexity of diagnosis, as it can be caused by systemic diseases, eye infections, autoimmune processes, traumas, cancer.

Cataract

Any dystrophic processes in the retina - the threat of complete loss of vision and therefore require immediate response, sometimes only surgical.

Prevention

You can keep your vision in a stable state by observing simple preventive measures:

• Follow the rules of visual hygiene: do not overexpose the eyes, do not read in the transport and lying down (especially on the side), when reading, watch to the eyes were from a book or computer at a certain distance (30-35 cm for schoolchildren, 40-43 for adults);
• Correct lighting: You can not work or read with the light off, but it should not give glare to the screen or be smashed into the eyes. Filament lamps are preferable, and not more than 60 W;
• Work at the computer: Regular breaks are mandatory, as well as relaxing gymnastics for the eyes;
• Food:for the prevention of age-related changes, the presence of natural carrots, parsley, spinach, seafood, nuts, eggs, cottage cheese, etc. should be present in the diet. ;
• Healthy lifestyle: a full-fledged sleep of at least 8 hours, walking, refusing bad habits, a balanced diet;
• Prophylactic examinationsan ophthalmologist and timely treatment of systemic diseases.

Video

conclusions

Deterioration of vision, if it is not innate, most often occurs through the fault of the person because of irrational use of the visual organ. Therefore, the prevention of loss of visual perception in most cases depends only on the efforts of the patient himself.