Causes of visual impairment

Vision is one of the most important human feelings, without which it is difficult to imagine a full life. Due to its anatomical and physiological characteristics, the visual apparatus is one of the most complex organs of the body. That is why any deviation in its functioning can lead to various ophthalmological disorders, by which one understands the reduction in visual acuity or distortion of perception of the surrounding world.

Main reasons

In medicine, under visual impairment, the inability of the eye to adapt to the normal physiological perception of surrounding objects is understood.In other words, it is a decrease in the ability to see objects or various distortions of their perception.There are both congenital ophthalmic abnormalities and those acquired during life. In general, all visual disturbances can be combined into several groups:

1. Impairment of color perception. The visual apparatus can not distinguish certain colors or confuses them. The most common example is color blindness. Most often, such a pathology is congenital or appears due to chemical effects;
2. Impaired vision adaptation. The eye can not adjust to lighting indoors or outdoors. In addition, unpleasant sensations can occur in bright light (photosensitivity, night blindness);
3. Anomalies of accommodation. They manifest themselves as a complete or partial impossibility of distinguishing an object or object from a distance. The most striking example is nearsightedness;
4. Violation of refraction or hyperopia. Pathology, the opposite of the violation of accommodation. It arises as the impossibility of clearly distinguishing objects located near;
5. Impaired peripheral vision. This problem is less common than others. The field of vision is significantly narrowed, which makes it impossible to distinguish objects located in the peripheral zone.

Congenital

Various visual impairments during the embryonic period are most often due to abnormal fetal development or complications during pregnancy.Here are the most common of them:

• pathological disturbances in the process of formation of the visual system in the fetus;
• transferred during pregnancy, infectious diseases;
• premature delivery;
• genetic abnormalities of fetal development or mutation;
• use of narcotic, psychotropic or hormonal drugs during pregnancy;
• mechanical damage or injury during the period of gestation and during labor.

Often visual pathologies occur against the background of heredity.A large number of ophthalmic diseases are transmitted genetically, for example, cataracts, some abnormalities in the development of the retina or cornea. Despite the development of medicine, there are no effective ways to prevent hereditary diseases.

Cataract

If a newborn has visual impairment, this does not mean that the ailment is incurable. There are often cases when congenital pathologies disappear on their own during the first months of life.

The most common birth defects are true or false shortsightedness, hyperopia, various forms of strabismus, and astigmatism. In rare cases, diagnosed ptosis, blepharitis and dacryocystitis.

Purchased

The pathology of the functioning of the visual system can also arise during life. Most often this occurs in the elderly, because of the anatomical structure of the eye.However, there are many reasons that can affect the quality of sight and healthy and young people.Here are some common acquired causes of visual impairment:

• mechanical damage to components of the visual apparatus;
• viral, bacteriological and parasitic ophthalmic or systemic diseases;
• age-related dysfunctions of the visual system;
• unbalanced nutrition, violation of the daily routine and uneven workload;
• strong stress and emotional distress;
• various diseases of the nervous and circulatory systems;
• long-term work, requiring constant visual tension, harmful conditions at work;
• long-term use of antibiotics and hormonal drugs;
• the abuse of alcohol, caffeine and narcotic substances;
• non-observance of elementary rules of personal hygiene;
• the transferred acute conditions connected with threat of a life (a hemorrhage, an infarct, a craniocereberal trauma);
• age processes of natural aging of the organs of vision.

Despite the fact that the body has a strong natural protection against most unfavorable external factors, even one of the above causes can lead to a complete or partial decrease in vision or cause distortion of perception.

Possible deviations

To date, described and examined more than 200 different ophthalmic diseases. Each of them develops according to a special mechanism, but there are a number of causes and abnormalities that lead to visual disturbances.

Constant fatigue

Most often, fatigue leading to a reduction in visual acuity and various ophthalmologic disorders is not a full-blown eye disease. Usually a similar problem is removed after a full rest or regular visual gymnastics. At the same time, chronic eye fatigue significantly depletes all structures of this organ and can lead to the most severe disorders.In the risk group are people who spend more time on the computer, not observing the regime of sleep and rest, as well as constantly exposed to severe stress.

Attenuation of the muscles of the lens

The ciliated muscles, which are connected to the lens, are responsible for adjusting its curvature, which is the most important factor for focusing the image. Weakening of muscle fibers can occur because of prolonged or chronic eye strain, as well as due to senile processes or against the background of some systemic diseases, for example, diabetes mellitus.The main manifestations of weakening of the ciliary muscles of the lens are hyperopia and nearsightedness.

A great danger to the muscles of the lens is the continued work at the computer, when it takes a long time to look at the object at the same distance. The development of pathology in this case can be prevented by performing simple gymnastics for the eyes.

Dry mucosa

Xerophthalmia or dryness of the conjunctiva (dry eye syndrome) is a common symptom that occurs in a number of diseases.The mucous membrane of the eye performs an important function - moistening the eyeball to ensure movement and eliminate foreign bodies that have fallen on the structure of the eye. If this does not happen, the dysfunction of the main components of the visual apparatus begins, which leads not only to a decrease in visual acuity, but also to unpleasant sensations in the form of burning, itching and pain.

Dry eye syndrome

Most often, such a pathology occurs in people who spend a lot of time at the computer or working with documents, as well as diabetes, Sjogren's syndrome, some forms of rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. In addition, xerophthalmia occurs due to prolonged conjunctivitis or mechanical damage to the mucosa.

Types of conjunctivitis

Deterioration of blood circulation

For a full-fledged work of the visual apparatus, a large amount of energy is needed, for which the blood flow is responsible. With any violations of the blood supply, there are dystrophic processes in the retina, which can lead to the most unfortunate consequences.The problem can be diagnosed only during examination of the fundus, as well as with a visual examination of the sclera, because there is a huge number of capillaries.

Problems associated with the violation of blood circulation, usually occur against the background of eyeball injuries, with certain diseases of the vascular system, during pressure spikes in the body. In most cases this leads not only to reduced visual acuity, but also to the appearance of painful sensations during palpation of the eye, and also during the movement of the eyeball. A particular case of the disease is diabetic retinopathy, which is a frequent complication of diabetes mellitus of any form.

The most dangerous case of violation of the blood supply to the eye is hemophthalmia. This is the rupture of the blood vessels into the cavity of the visual structures. If the treatment of this ailment is postponed, the consequences can be irreversible.

Retinal aging

For acuity and usefulness of vision, special photosensitive pigments that are located directly in the retina are responsible.With age, as well as against acquired systemic senile diseases, they begin to gradually deteriorate (age-related dystrophy of the eye), which leads to a variety of visual impairments-reduced visual acuity in both eyes, development of astigmatism and others. This process begins about 40 years, so from this point it is recommended to include in the diet a large number of fish and products containing vitamin A.

Products containing vitamin A

In some cases, the disease begins to progress more actively and, on average, after 7 years, vision is lost in both eyes. This can be the reason for getting a disability in sight.

Injuries

The human eye is a complex and very delicate structure.Any mechanical damage can cause serious visual impairment instantly or after a while.The most common causes of ophthalmic disorders caused by trauma:

1. Injury. It is considered the easiest option for eye injury. The degree of complications for the visual system, as a rule, is immediately difficult to assess - the consequences are manifested later. That is why it is important to get a bruise in time to contact a specialist;
2. Burn. It can be of three types - chemical, thermal or radiation. The defeat of the eye completely depends on how much the visual structures were affected. Mandatory hospitalization is necessary, where it is possible to assess the damage and take timely measures;
3. Foreign body hit. It always starts with unpleasant sensations on the mucous membrane, later not only the conjunctiva, but also the eyeball can be affected. Treatment depends on the shape and size of the object caught in the eye;
4. Wound. This is the most complex case of trauma in the visual system. Typically, the wound is a pricking or cutting object. Treatment depends on the degree of severity, in some situations, complete removal of the eye is necessary.

In case of any trauma to the organs of vision, it is strictly recommended not to engage in self-medication, since competent diagnosis is necessary, because the consequences can manifest even after full recovery.

Prevention

There are a number of ways to keep the quality of visual processes as long as possible. It is advisable to start taking care of your eyes from a young age, since the dystrophic processes in old age are much more difficult to stop.

• during work, you need to take breaks to change the load on the muscles of the lens and give retinal pigments to recover. To do this, you can simply stop working for 15-20 minutes or lie with your eyes closed, if possible;
• gymnastics for the eyes - an effective procedure that allows you to maintain visual acuity for a long time. It is enough to perform exercises 2-3 times a day for 5 minutes;
• To work the visual system, you need a healthy sleep and a balanced diet. This not only reduces the risk of visual impairment, but also prevents the development of systemic diseases;
• for the prevention of infectious ophthalmic diseases it is necessary to observe simple rules of personal hygiene - regularly wash your hands, use only your towel or napkins. It is desirable for children to inoculate these simple norms from the first years of life;
• during work on harmful production is mandatory use of personal protective equipment. This helps to avoid occupational injuries and reduce the impact of harmful substances and temperatures.

If the vision reduction still could not be avoided, you need to contact the ophthalmologist as soon as possible in order to diagnose the cause and choose the optimal treatment.

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conclusions

There are dozens of reasons that can cause visual impairment. Most of them can be avoided if you take care of your body and call your doctor in time for the first signs of illness. Until recently, the restoration of the functioning of vision seemed impossible task, but modern methods of medicine allow eliminating almost any pathology without the risk of complications.