Eye Conditions

Age-related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common condition that affects the middle part of your vision. It usually first affects people in their 50s. It does not cause total blindness, but it can make things like reading and recognising faces difficult.

There are 2 types of AMD, wet and dry. Dry AMD develops slowly with gradual changes over time. Wet AMD can develop more quickly but treatment is available to help slow down the progression.

Symptoms: A blurred area in the center of vision, seeing straight lines as wavy or crooked, sensitive to bright light, seeing flickering or flashing lights.

Causes: The exact cause is unknown. It's been linked to things such as ageing, smoking, high blood pressure, being overweight and having a family history of AMD.

Support: You can get support and more information about AMD from Macular Society, RNIB and NHS.uk.

Cataracts

Cataracts are when the lens of the eye develops cloudy patches. Over time these patches usually become bigger causing blurry, misty vision and eventually blindness.

Cataracts usually happens in both eyes but develop at different rates. It could be worse in one eye than the other and this creates a difference in vision between the eyes.

Cataracts develop slowly and might not be obvious in the early stages but as it develops the cataracts can affect vision. Strong light and glasses will help with cataracts in the early stages but as the condition worsens then surgery may be needed.

Symptoms: Clouded vision, blurred vision, double vision in one eye, difficulty seeing at night, sensitivity to light and glare, seeing halos around lights, frequent changes in glasses or contact lenses prescription, and needing brighter lights for activities like reading.

Causes: It's not clear why we're more likely to develop cataracts as we get older, but some things may increase your risk of cataracts, including a family history of cataracts, smoking, diabetes, eye injury, long-term use of steroids and drinking too much alcohol.

Support: You can get support and more information about cataracts from RNIB and NHS.uk.

Charles Bonnet

Charles Bonnet syndrome is a condition where you see things that are not real (hallucinations). It can happen if you've lost a lot of your sight. It's not caused by a mental health problem or dementia.

Symptoms: The main symptom is seeing things that are not real after losing a lot of your sight. You do not hear, smell or feel things that are not there.

Causes: The condition is linked to vision loss. When your vision deteriorates, your brain gets less information from your eyes and it sometimes makes up for this by creating hallucinations.

Support: You can get support and more information about Charles Bonnet syndrome from Esme’s Umbrella, RNIB and NHS.uk.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic Retinopathy is a complication of diabetes where high blood sugar levels damage the retina and can lead to blindness if undiagnosed and untreated. It can take a number of years for sight to be affected.

The retina is the light-sensitive layer of cells at the back of the eye that converts light into electrical signals. The signals are sent to the brain which turns them into the images you see.

The retina needs a constant supply of blood, which it receives through a network of tiny blood vessels. Over time, a persistently high blood sugar level can damage these blood vessels

Symptoms: You will not usually notice Diabetic Retinopathy in the early stages, as it does not tend to have any obvious symptoms until it's more advanced. However, early signs of the condition can be picked up by taking photographs of the eyes during diabetic eye screening.

If you experience any of the following symptoms, contact your GP diabetes care team immediately:

gradually worsening vision
sudden vision loss
shapes floating in your field of vision
blurred or patchy vision
eye pain or redness
difficulty seeing in the dark

Causes: A complication of diabetes, damage to the blood vessels supplying blood to the retina is caused by persistent high blood sugar levels.

Support: You can get support and more information about Diabetic Retinopathy from Diabetes UK, RNIB and NHS.uk.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a condition where the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, is damaged. Glaucoma can lead to loss of vision if it's not diagnosed and treated early.

Symptoms: There are usually no symptoms to begin with. Glaucoma tends to develop slowly over many years and affects the peripheral vision first.

Some changes may include blurred vision, or seeing rainbow-coloured circles around bright lights.

Causes: Glaucoma is usually caused by fluid building up in the front part of the eye, which increases pressure inside the eye. It is unclear what causes this fluid build-up.

Support: You can get support and more information about Glaucoma from Glaucoma UK, RNIB and NHS.uk.

Retinal Detachment

Retinal Detachment is a condition where the retina pulls away from the tissue underneath it. It may start in a small area, but without quick treatment, it can spread across the entire retina, leading to serious vision loss and possibly blindness.

Retinal detachment is a medical emergency that requires surgery.

Symptoms: You may experience floaters or flashes of light in your eye, a dark "curtain" or shadow may appear in your vision and changes to your eyesight such as blurred vision.

Causes: A detached retina is usually caused by changes to the jelly inside your eye, which can happen as you get older. This is called posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). It's not clear exactly why PVD can lead to retinal detachment in some people and there's nothing you can do to prevent it.

Support: You can get support and more information about Retinal Detachment from RNIB and NHS.uk.

Retinitis Pigmentosa

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is part of a group of rare eye diseases called “inherited retinal dystrophies” which cause the cells in the retina to break down slowly over time resulting in vision loss.

Symptoms: Usually starting in childhood, the first symptom is commonly the loss of sight in the dark or adjusting to dim light (night blindness). As RP progresses, peripheral vision will worsen, leading to tunnel vision. Over time, most people with RP lose their peripheral vision and central vision completely. Other symptoms of RP include loss of colour vision, sensitivity to bright lights, Photopsia (spontaneously occurring flashes/blinking/swirling/shimmering lights), slow adjustments from dark to light and light to dark environments and blurring of vision.

Causes: RP is a hereditary condition (passed down from parents to children) caused by a mutation in one of the genes involved in maintaining the health of the retina. Although uncommon, RP can sometimes be linked to other conditions e.g. Usher syndrome, medicines, infections or an eye injury.

Support: You can get support and more information about Retinitis Pigmentosa from Retina UK and RNIB.

Stroke

A stroke is when blood stops flowing to a part of your brain. It can affect things like speech and movement, and take a long time to recover from. A stroke needs urgent medical help in hospital because it can be life-threatening.

Strokes affect people in different ways and vision problems are quite common. Our eyes send visual information to different parts of the brain involved in seeing. This is known as the visual pathway. If a stroke affects certain parts of the visual pathway or parts of the brain that are involved in processing and interpreting visual information, then this can affect your sight.

The main types of eye problems that can occur after a stroke include visual field loss, eye movement problems and visual processing problems.

Symptoms: The main symptoms of a stroke can happen suddenly and may include:

face weakness – one side of your face may droop and it might be hard to smile
arm weakness – you may not be able to fully lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in one arm
speech problems – you may slur your words or sound confused

Causes: An ischaemic stroke happens when a blockage cuts off the blood supply to part of your brain, killing brain cells. Haemorrhagic stroke is when you have bleeding in or around the brain, damaging brain cells.

Support: You can get support and more information about Strokes from the Stroke Association, RNIB and NHS.uk.