Diseases of the Eye & Surrounding Structures…

This category contains articles that deal with diseases of the eye and surrounding structures.

Many diseases, disorders, and age-related changes may affect the eyes and surrounding structures.

As the eye ages certain changes occur that can be attributed solely to the aging process. Most of these anatomic and physiologic processes follow a gradual decline. With aging, the quality of vision worsens due to reasons independent of aging eye diseases.

While there are many changes of significance in the non-diseased eye, the most functionally important changes seem to be a reduction in pupil size and the loss of accommodation or focusing capability (presbyopia). The area of the pupil governs the amount of light that can reach the retina. The extent to which the pupil dilates also decreases with age. Because of the smaller pupil size, older eyes receive much less light at the retina. In comparison to younger people, it is as though older persons wear medium-density sunglasses in bright light and extremely dark glasses in dim light. Therefore, for any detailed visually guided tasks on which performance varies with illumination, older persons require extra lighting.

Certain ocular diseases can come from sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes and genital warts. If contact between eye and area of infection occurs, the STD will be transmitted to the eye.

With aging a prominent white ring develops in the periphery of the cornea- called arcus senilis. Aging causes laxity and downward shift of eyelid tissues and atrophy of the orbital fat. These changes contribute to the cause of several eyelid disorders such as ectropion, entropion, dermatochalasis, and ptosis. The vitreous gel undergoes liquefaction (posterior vitreous detachment or PVD) and its opacities—visible as floaters—gradually increase in number.

Various eye care professionals, including ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians, are involved in the treatment and management of ocular and vision disorders. Some disorders with the eyes are myopia (near-sightedness) which affects one-third of the population, far-sightedness with affects one quarter of the population, and a combination of the two due to aging.

A list of the various diseases under this category are listed as follows:

• Inflammation of eyelid;
• Disorders of lacrimal system;
• Disorders of orbit;
• Conjunctivitis;
• Disorders of sclera;
• Keratitis;
• Corneal scars and opacities;
• Corneal degeneration;
• Disorders of iris;
• Disorders of sclera and cornea;
• Senile cataract;
• Other cataract;
• Other disorders of lens;
• Retinal detachments and breaks;
• Retinal vascular occlusions;
• Peripheral retinal degeneration;
• Retinal haemorrhage;
• Glaucoma;
• Disorders of globe;
• Optic neuritis;
• Visual disturbances;
• Colour vision deficiencies;
• Visual field defects;
• Night blindness;
• Blindness and low vision; etc.