Rotaract Club of Uva Wellassa University-Badulla

One of the most common Non-communicable disease diabetes. If you have it then you must highly pay attention to your eye health. Yes!! You heard me right. Diabetes can cause eye diseases. Surprising truth. Let’s take a glance at it. What is it? If I said it in more familiar words, it is a leading cause of blindness among diabetic patients. It causes progressive damage to the blood vessels of the retina which is the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye that is necessary for good vision. It has four stages namely, mild non-proliferative retinopathy (microaneurysms), moderate non-proliferative retinopathy (blockage in some retinal vessels), severe non-proliferative retinopathy (more vessels are blocked leading to deprived retina from blood supply leading to growing new blood vessels) and proliferative retinopathy (most advanced stage). This can be affected to both eyes. Can we identify it early? Unfortunately, we can’t see any early symptoms. But lately we can see blurry vision, F

How much do you know about glaucoma? If you heard the word you are lucky, but keep reading because you might not know the most important. If you haven’t heard, Lucky you!! Begin to read immediately. What is it? Glaucoma can damage the eye’s optic nerve and result in vision loss and blindness. Glaucoma occurs when the normal fluid pressure inside the eyes slowly rises. However, recent findings now show that glaucoma can occur with normal eye pressure. There are two major categories “open angle” and “closed angle” glaucoma. Open angle, is a chronic condition that progress slowly over long period of time without the person noticing vision loss until the disease is very advanced. Angle closure can appear suddenly and is painful. Visual loss can progress quickly; however, the pain and discomfort lead patients to seek medical attention before permanent damage occurs Can we identify it early? No early symptoms can be seen. Loss of side (peripheral) vision, blindness can be identified as later

What is Age-Related Macular Degeneration? Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common condition that affects the middle part of your vision. AMD doesn’t cause complete blindness, but losing your central vision can make it harder to see faces, drive, or do close-up work like cooking or fixing things around the house. AMD happens very slowly in some people. Even if you have early AMD, you may not experience vision loss for a long time. For other people, AMD progresses faster and can lead to central vision loss in one eye or both eyes. What are the signs & symptoms of AMD? As AMD progresses, many people see a blurry area near the centre of their vision. Over time, this blurry area may get bigger or you may see blank spots. Things may also seem less bright than before. Some people may also notice that straight lines start to look wavy. This can be a warning sign for late AMD. If you notice this symptom, see your eye doctor right away. Am I at risk for AMD? Your risk

  What is Amblyopia? Amblyopia is the medical term used when the vision in one of the eyes is reduced because the eye and the brain are not working together properly. The eye itself looks normal, but it is not being used normally because the brain is favoring the other eye. The most common cause of permanent one-eye vision impairment among children and young and middle-aged adults. An estimated 2%–3% of the population suffer from amblyopia. Over time, the brain relies more and more on the other, stronger eye, while vision in the weaker eye gets worse. It’s called “lazy eye” because the stronger eye works better. Amblyopia starts in childhood, and it’s the most common cause of vision loss in kids. Up to 3 out of 100 children have it. The good news is that early treatment works well and usually prevents long-term vision problems. Can we identify it early? Symptoms of amblyopia can be hard to notice. Kids with amblyopia may have poor depth perception. Parents may also notice signs that th

  What are Cataracts? Cataracts happen to be another of the most widely existing eye problems. The formation of cloudy areas in the eye lens is referred as the cataracts. Light passes through a clear eye lens to your retina (just like a camera), where images are processed. With cataracts affecting your eye lens, light cannot pass through to the retina smoothly enough. As a result, you are unable to see as clearly as people without cataracts and may also notice a halo or glare around lights at night. What are the types of cataracts? Most cataracts are age-related which happen because of normal changes in your eyes as you get older. But you can get cataracts for other reasons such as after an eye injury or after surgery for another eye problem (like glaucoma). What are the symptoms of cataracts? You might not have any symptoms at first because of most of the times, the formation of cataracts is a slow process But as cataracts grow, they can cause changes in your vision. For exa

  What are Refractive Errors? Refractive error means that the shape of your eye does not bend light correctly, resulting in a blurred image. They happen when the shape of your eye keeps light from focusing correctly on your retina What are the types of Refractive Errors? ·          Near-sightedness (myopia) - makes far-away objects look blurry ·          Farsightedness (hyperopia) - makes nearby objects look blurry ·          Astigmatism - can make far-away and nearby objects look blurry or distorted ·          Presbyopia - makes it hard for middle-aged and older adults to see things up close Most types of refractive errors, like near-sightedness, usually start in childhood. Presbyopia is common in adults ages 40 and older.   What are the signs & symptoms of Refractive Errors? The most common symptom of refractive errors is blurry vision. Other Symptoms include: ·          Double vision ·          Hazy vision ·          Seeing a glare or halo around bright