What kind of eye diseases can a person have?

Widely known is an eye infection - conjunctivitis, but few know that there are several of it species, and that pathological conditions can affect not only the conjunctiva, but also other ocular structure.Meanwhile, the eyes are extremely important for the perception of the surrounding world - through them we get up to 80% of information about it. And in order not to miss the onset of eye diseases, one should at least have an idea of ​​possible pathologies.

Infectious

Defeats as a result of the activation of pathogens, in contrast to conventional concepts, can affect not only the surface structures

urs (conjunctiva, eyelids, sclera), but also such protected elements of the eyes as the nerves and the vasculature.

Structure of eye conjunctiva

Conjunctiva

Viral and bacterial lesions of the mucous membrane of the eye develop under the influence of the introduction of microorganisms:

• Bacteria: staphylococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, gonococcus, diphtheria bacillus, etc. ;
• Viruses: adenovirus, enterovirus, herpes virus, varicella, measles, etc.

  viruses that cause conjunctivitis

In most cases, the causative agent is adenovirus(up to 80% in adults and in half of childhood infections), most of the remaining patients are diagnosed with staphylococcal infection. Often after the initial introduction of the virus, a bacterial infection joins it, which is immediately apparent from purulent discharge.

In rare infections(gonococcal, herpes, chlamydia, acanthamoeba), usually a more severe course with a prognosis of serious consequences.

Also share the crossed diseases - blepharoconjunctivitis, keratoconjunctivitis.

Century

The eyelids, like the conjunctiva, take on most of the unfavorable effects of the external environment, and therefore are the most vulnerable site. Depending on the nosological forms and etiology, the following skin diseases of the eyelids are distinguished:

• Acute bacterial: impetigo, erysipelatous inflammation, abscess and phlegmon, furuncle;
• Chronic bacterial: syphilitic damage, tuberculosis of lupus;
• Viral lesions: caused by molluscum contagiosum, tinea virus, herpes simplex virus;
• Fungal diseases: blastomycosis, candidiasis, sporotrichosis, trichophytosis, actinomycosis, favus.

In addition to the skin of the eyelids, their edges can be affected, having direct contact with the surface of the mucosa. In this case, there is a threat of infection on the conjunctiva. Among such diseases are: blepharitis, barley, haljazion.

Barley on the eye

Sclerosis

A sclera is called the eye envelope, which has a white color and fulfills a protective function. The defeat of a sclera of a purely infectious nature is a rare occurrence and is most often caused by the spread of the infectious process that seizes the cornea.

In 50% of cases sclerites are a consequence of systemic diseases: nodular polyarthritis, Wegener granulomatosis, recurrent polychondritis, rheumatoid arthritis.

More recently, the most common causes of scleritis were systemic infections: syphilis, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis. Today in the development of infectious sclerites the leading role belongs to:

• Pneumococcal pneumonia;
• Streptococcal infection;
• Exchange diseases: collagenoses, gout.

Any focus of inflammation in the body can trigger the development of the inflammatory process in the sclera.

Nerves

Inflammation of the optic nerve(neuritis) most often occurs as a result of the defeat of the body by viruses of influenza or parainfluenza, as well as various types of ARVI. Symptoms can be manifested on the 5th-6th day by a sharp decrease in the quality of visual perception, the appearance of "fog" or "blemish" in front of the eyes.

Other possible causes for the development of infectious neuritis may include:

• Inflammation of meninges or brain(arachnoiditis, meningitis, encephalitis);
• Inflammation of the eye socket or eyeball(iridocyclitis, choroiditis, keratitis, uveopapillitis, phlegmon of the orbit, etc. );
• Inflammatory processes in the ENT-organx (tonsillitis, sinusitis, pharyngolaryngitis) or teeth.

With mild forms, the disease quickly passes after adequate timely treatment. Heavy forms and delayed initiation of treatment can lead to loss of vision, partially or completely.

Difficulty in the treatment is timely diagnosis, because the symptoms are difficult to recognize.Differential diagnosis is performed with pseudo-neuritis, ischemic nerve conditions, stagnant nipple.

Vessels

The vascular system of the eye is represented by two sections: anterior (iris and ciliary body) and posterior (between sclera and retina).All inflammatory processes occurring in the vessels of the eye are called uveitis. If only the anterior part is affected, then the inflammation is called irit or iridocyclitis, while spreading to all parts of the vascular system develops panoveitis.

The vascular system of the eye

Infection with pathogenic microflora is one of the most probable causes of inflammation.Pathogens can be toxoplasma, chlamydia, herpes virus, brucella, cytomegalovirus, Koch's stick.

Infectious uveitis in most cases have an acute course:in the initial stage there appear a "veil" and a slight "fog" in the eyes, a gradual decrease in the quality of visual perception, accompanied by a feeling of heaviness. Later there are redness, photophobia, lacrimation, increased IOP and pain in the eye.

Lacrimal ducts

The lacrimal fluid produced by the eyes can be removed from the eyes through the lacrimal canaliculi - through tear points in the inner corner of the eyes from above and below.On the tubules, tears enter the tear sack connected to the nasolacrimal canal. Thus, crying always produces a runny nose.

Location of lacrimal sac and canal

ATthe inflammation of the tear duct is called canaliculitis, and in most cases the process proceeds chronically, against the background of other infectious eye diseases.The causative agent is pathogenic fungi, and the disease - ophthalmomycosis (actinomycosis - often, candidiasis and sporotrichosis - rarely).

Initial Symptoms- hyperemia of the transitional fold and teardrop, lacrimation, crust formation resembling barley or swelling. With a light eyelid twig, there is a painless widening of the lacrimal point, from which, when pressed, a turbid liquid with an admixture of pus is released.

Although the causative agents of infectious diseases are pathogenic microbes, an imperative condition for their introduction is a reduced level of immunity. This can happen for various reasons: systemic diseases, poor nutrition, wrong lifestyle.

Allergic diseases

Eye-striking allergic reactions are diverse in form and causal factors. And although the nature of their development is not completely clear, some connection has been established with a hereditary predisposition.

There are several types of allergic eye damage:

• Allergic dermatitis. The lesions of the eyelids are expressed not only by hyperemia and edema, but also by burning, itching, papular eruptions. Symptoms can manifest on the face as a result of using cosmetics or taking medications;
• Allergic conjunctivitis. Lachrymation and reddening of the eyes is accompanied by the discharge of the mucous discharge. In acute form, edema of the conjunctiva is observed;
• Pollinous conjunctivitis. Occurs at the beginning of the allocation of pollen by plants, has additional symptoms: sneezing, runny nose, attacks of suffocation;
• Spring conjunctivitis. Supposedly, the increase in the spring of ultraviolet radiation, the provoking factor - the pollen of plants. A characteristic symptom - papillary growths on the conjunctiva of the eyelids, sometimes - along the edge of the cornea;
• Cold Allergy. It appears after a walk in cold weather with hyperemia, scaling, itching, reddening of the sclera. Symptoms can be confused with measles or chickenpox.

Most often allergens are substances that come into direct contact with the conjunctiva or skin of the eyelids (animal hair, household dust, mold, etc.) ), and much less often - food, insect bites, medicines.

Systemic diseases

The development of system pathologies in the tissues of the eye is almost always due to the presence in the body of serious pathologies: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atherosclerosis, kidney or endocrine disorders, organic brain lesions.

Retinas

The retina is the nervous tissue of the eye, represented as a thin shell lining the eye from the inside. Systemic lesions of the retina are caused by insufficient nutrition due to a violation of blood supply. The reasons for this may be several:

• Systemic diseases of the circulatory system, gastrointestinal tract, etc .;
• Dystrophic processes in the tissues, as well as the progression of myopia or hyperopia;
• Trauma (brain or eye);
• Congenital changes in the retina(consequence of birth trauma, fetal development anomaly, genetic predisposition);
• Operations, stress, poisoning.

The main signs of damage to the retina are: decreased visual acuity, the appearance before the eyes of temporary disturbances ("sparks points, "Misty veil"), sometimes there is a narrowing of the fields of vision, there is a double vision, developing migraine and dizziness, numbness fingers.

Nerves

The human's eye nerve is divided into 4 sections, one of which is inside the eyeball - the disc of the optic nerve.

However, the lesions of other departments also affect the quality of visual perception. There are the following types of lesions of the optic nerve:

• Edema of the optic discobserved with abscesses or tumors of the brain, increased pressure, deformation of the cranial bones. Rarely - with anemia, emphysema, leukemia. With rapid elimination passes without consequences;
• Inflammation of the optic nervecan develop with systemic disorders: pathologies of the kidneys, blood, nervous system, impaired metabolism, increased blood pressure, etc. ;
• Neuropathy- circulatory disorders due to diseases of the vascular system;
• Atrophy of the optic nerve- loss of functionality can be complete or partial and most often caused by glaucoma, trauma to the skull, vascular disease or retina, large blood loss.

Initial symptoms of damage to the optic nerve can be a decrease in the quality of vision, narrowing of the visual fields, periodic migraines. In the absence of adequate therapy, complete blindness is inevitable.

The lens

The lens is one of the main refractive media of the eye and is a lens filled with transparent contents.Lenticular nutrition is carried out when it is washed with the intraocular fluid. With age changes, when the intensity of metabolism is disturbed, clouding of the lens - cataract - can develop.

Structure of the lens of the eye

The second important violation in the lens is the almost complete loss of the ability to accommodate with age. Muscles that provide a change in the curvature of the natural lens, become less plastic and about 60 years cease to fulfill their functions.

A sign of starting cataracts can serve as point, round, spindle-shaped opacities localized in different parts of the lens, closer to its anterior or posterior wall.

Cornea

Pathological changes in the cornea can be of two kinds:

• Keratitis (inflammation) of non-infectious origin- as a result of injuries, use of psychotropic substances, allergic irritations;
• Dystrophic changes- hereditary non-inflammatory progressive lesions, which lead to the clouding of the cornea and the loss of its functions.

As in the first, and in the second case, the main condition of the functionality of the corneal layer is violated - its transparency, which leads to a decrease in visual acuity and even complete blindness.

The onset of dystrophic processes can be provoked by autoimmune, biochemical, neurotrophic changes, and also be a consequence of inflammatory processes, trauma, postoperative complications. The initial symptoms of changes in the cornea are the feeling of a foreign body, photophobia and pain in the eyes, lacrimation and pain, a decrease in the quality of visual perception.

Increased IOP

The eye inside is filled with intraocular fluid, which is constantly renewed. The pressure of this liquid is a constant. Therefore, when it increases, intraocular structures begin to suffer, and first of all - the optic nerve. With a progressive increase in pressure, glaucoma develops - the process is irreversible and leads to complete blindness.

Increased intraocular pressure

The main symptoms of increased IOP are:

• The appearance before the eyes of rainbow circles when looking at the light source;
• Easy corneal edema and slight visual impairment;
• Pupil dilated(not pronounced).

  Dilation of pupils

The reasons for an increase in IOP are manifold:taking certain medications, traumatic injuries, inflammatory processes, as well as an unbalanced diet (abuse of salt, alcohol, lack of vegetables and fruits).

Violations of a systemic nature often have blurred symptoms and are manifested even at the stage of fundamental changes in visual acuity. Therefore, preventive examinations from the ophthalmologist play a decisive role in the prevention of such diseases.

Visual abnormalities

Visual disturbances that do not have pathological causes, which are long and mostly irreversible, are called visual abnormalities.Such violations include myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, presbyopia.

Myopia

When passing through the cornea and the lens, the light rays refract and focus on the retina, as a result of the arrival of signals from the optic nerve to the brain, we see the image of the object.Central vision is carried out with the participation of the macula (yellow spot) - the center of the nerve cells on the far from the pupil part of the retina. Peripheral vision is available due to nerve cells (sticks) of the retina in the peripheral areas.

Structure of the eye

However, in some cases (with an enlarged eyeball, less often - with an irregular shape of the cornea or lens), the image focus does not reach the retina and macula. And then myopia develops-poor vision in the distance.

The main reason for myopia is genetic predisposition.Deviation occurs most often in adolescence and requires mandatory correction in order to prevent the progress of the visual defect. The main way to correct myopia is glasses and contact lenses, although surgical methods can be used for some types of complicated vision deflection.

Weak degree of myopia to -3D, high - above -6D. The weak and medium degree are almost always subject to correction with glasses and lenses. There are also such methods as laser correction, keratoplasty, radial keratotomy, therapeutic simulators, lens replacement, implantation of phakic lenses.

Hypermetropia

Hyperopia (hypermetropia) is the opposite of the myopia of the eye, due to the too short axis of the eyeball or the small size of the anterior chamber and the small diameter of the cornea.Characterized by poor vision near, although with a strong degree of deflection, there is a disturbance of vision and into the distance.

Each child is born with a certain degree of hypermetropia, which by about 10 years disappears due to the growth of the eyeball.In some children, the stabilization of vision due to various reasons (congenital or acquired) is disrupted, and parents should start age correction on time.

The second common cause of hyperopia- age changes that appear in older people, when the ability to accommodate and naturally correct the defect by the eye itself is lost with a change in the curvature of the lens. The first changes a person can notice already at the age of 40-50 years, although in full they appear only after 60.

As in the case of myopia, the main methods of correction are correction of eyeglasses and contact lenses. Of course, completely correct such a visual defect is available only by surgical techniques, which are the main method of correction for the elderly. Operative intervention for children is allowed only from the age of 18.

Astigmatism

Disturbance of visual perception can occur not only with insufficient or excessive refraction of light rays, but also with their uneven refraction.The cause of this defect is the irregular shape of the cornea, which ideally should look like a segment of a circular sphere. If the cornea becomes elongated along a vertical or horizontal axis, as a result of the passage of light rays through it, each point has more than one focus on the retina, and at least two. And the image begins to blur, distort and even bifurcate.Such a visual defect is called astigmatism.

Each child has at birth a certain degree of astigmatism, which almost completely disappears by 3 years. Normally, up to 80% of people have a weak degree of such a visual defect - before D.With a deviation above the norm, astigmatism requires timely and constant correction, as it can slow the child's development both psychologically and physiologically.

To diagnose astigmatism even in a small child, an experienced doctor can perform a skiascopy (a shadow test). To the obvious symptoms of the developing defect of visual perception are:

• Deterioration of visual acuity;
• Dividing images, distorting contours;
• Headache;
• Rapid eye fatigue.

Like other visual impairments, astigmatism requires timely diagnosis and correction by all available techniques. It should be borne in mind that a visual impairment can have a combined form along with farsightedness or nearsightedness, and sometimes - with both defects at once.

Presbyopia

The second name of the defect is "senile vision when a violation of the correct refraction occurs due to age-related changes.The main characteristic is the impossibility of considering small objects or small print at close range.

The cause of the development of the condition is the loss of elasticity of the lens, as well as the weakening of the ciliary muscle - the main lever that changes its curvature.

The development of a visual defect begins with the first age-related changes that begin after 45 years. Symptoms of presbyopia are:

• Difficulty reading small print;
• Difficulties with low illumination;
• Rapid fatigue when working the eyes;
• The emergence of hazewhen looking from close to far-away object.

Presbyopia (age-long farsightedness) has another name - "short-arm disease because for better consideration of small print, elderly people hold a book or newspaper in outstretched arms. Unlike other visual defects, presbyopia occurs only with the development of age-related changes.

Functional eye disorders

All violations in the quality of visual perception are divided into two large groups:

• Organic.Visual impairment occurs as a result of structural changes in the eye tissues due to diseases: conjunctivitis, blepharitis, cataracts, tumors, optic nerve atrophy;
• Functional.Implied refractive disorders and accommodation, resulting in impaired quality of visual perception. Such visual deviations include myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism, amblyopia, strabismus, etc.

According to statistics, up to 30% of people today have refractive disorders. Such people have the ability to clearly see objects at long distances. If the accommodation is disturbed, then the opportunity to examine closely located objects is lost.

Functional disorders include:disturbances of peripheral vision, complete or partial loss of the ability to adapt to vision with different intensity of illumination,

Strabismus

Visual impairment, in which the visual axis of the eye during movement are at different angles to the object under consideration, is called strabismus.Such a visual defect can be congenital or acquired, monocular (when mowing one eye) or alternating (eyes mow in turn), friendly (most often in childhood) and paralytic (in violation of the functionality of oculomotor muscles).

The causes of strabismus are manifold:

• Injuries, paresis, paralysis;
• CNS diseases;
• Violations of refraction medium or high degree;
• Anomalies of the attachment or development of oculomotor muscles;
• Systemic infections (diphtheria, scarlet fever, influenza, measles, etc.) );
• Mental trauma (fright), stress;
• Somatic diseases;
• Rapid reduction in visual acuity in one eye.

The development of strabismus can occur in young children with the wrong behavior of parents: the placement of toys and rattles is too close to the eyes, side or behind the child's head. In this case, the baby can try to examine objects and unwittingly mow down his eyes. And since the children's visual system, like everyone else, goes through many years of formation, such deviations can take a permanent character.

Amblyopia

Amblyopia has the second name "lazy eye which completely conveys the essence of the developed visual defect: one eye completely or partially does not participate in the vision process. This occurs most often in childhood with the development of functional disorders in the strong or medium degree.

When the visual analyzer in the brain from different eyes receives a different image, a child by virtue of his age can not tell parents about it. However, the baby begins to look for the best position to get a clear picture: he can squint, tilt his head and even close one eye.When the brain understands that one eye gives a quality image, it begins to consciously limit or even disable the functioning of the second eye.As a result, this eye gradually reduces its visual ability.

Amblyopia often accompanies monocular strabismus, in which case the preservation of binocular vision is completely dependent on the responsiveness of the parents.

Deviations in development

The number of abnormalities that can disturb the visual perception include anomalies in the development of the eye or orbit.The appearance of such deviations may be due to both genetic predisposition and to be a consequence of the pregnancy of infections, reception of medicines unauthorized by a doctor, poisoning with toxic substances, as well as traumatic damage.

Colombia's eyes

A number of such violations in the development of the visual system include:

• Anomalies of eye development:absence of eyeballs (anophthalmia), an increase in the eyeball (hydrophthalmic), bulging of the eye with the retina (cyst of the eye), focal absence of any (a columba), a harmonious increase or decrease in the size of the eye (megalophthalmia or microphthalmia), membranes in the vitreous body in the form of a film or (the system is hyaloid persistent), protrusion of the wall of the eye with limited stretching of the sclera (staphyloma), one eye socket in the forehead area along the midline (cyclopia);
• Anomalies of orbit: are almost always present in the presence of anomalies of the development of the eyes and consist in changing the size or configuration of the orbit.

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conclusions

Eyes are an invaluable gift of evolution, helping to easily cope with everyday difficulties and to leave without losses from extreme situations.And if there are even the slightest violations of visual perception, you should treat this with care and use the services of qualified specialists.