4 Eye Disease You Might Not Have Heard Of

21 January 2016 by Brent Woods

There are numerous diseases and problems associated with the eye; most of these become even more prevalent as you become older. However, due to the sheer number of diseases related to the eye, many of these are not particularly well know. There are many eye-related diseases of which you might be unfamiliar with.

Uveal Coloboma 

Uveal coloboma is neither a common nor well-documented eye-related disease. It is estimated that somewhere between .5 to 2.2 people per every 10,000 births will wind up contracting, or will be born with, uveal coloboma; this number is not particularly high.

It is not particularly documented because, even if a person does contract uveal coloboma, this does not necessarily mean that this will affect either the integrity of aesthetic structure of the eyeball itself. This is not to say that uveal coloboma can not cause some serious issues, however. Uveal coloboma itself can lead to blurred vision and eventually blindness if left untreated. 

Retinoblastoma

Although eye disease is usually associated with aging, there are some diseases that tend to affect children in larger numbers than it would an adult. Take, for example, retinoblastoma.

Retinoblastoma can affect one or both of the eyes, and tends to manifest itself in children 5 years of age or younger. Restinoblastoma is not an issue that can be ignored. Not only can retinoblastoma cause serious issues with a child's eye, if it is left untreated, the disease can become exacerbated and will eventually cause death. It is malignant cancer that affects the light sensitive areas of the back of the eye. 

Bietti's Crystalline Dystrophy

Bietti's crystalline dystrophy (BCD) is a disease that can only be inherited through a non-working eye-related gene. If this gene is inherited from one parent, the person in question will not develop BCD. However, if both non-working genes are inherited from both parents, the child will inherit BCD.

It is a very uncommon disease, and tends to affect the vision to a somewhat great degree, but will not cause blindness. BCD will cause yellowish crystals to form on the cornea of the eye, and in some cases, can constrict vision. This can cause problems seeing during the nighttime hours.

Stargadt Disease

Like BCD, Stargadt disease is a disease that can only be inherited, and, like retinoblastoma, it is a disease that primarily affects children. Unlike retinoblastoma, however, it is not a malignant cancer and is not a life-threatening proposition. Stargadt disease affects the retina, or light-receiving portion, of the back of the eye. This can cause severe restriction of vision, which usually manifests itself during early childhood or adolescence, although sometimes Stargadt's symptoms manifest themselves during adulthood. Although having a strong sense of vision is very uncommon with those born with Stargadt disease, the chances of completely losing your vision due to this disease is quite uncommon.

Vision issues are quite common in the world today, especially as you age. However, there are still many issues that are quite uncommon or simply not well documented. If you think that you or your children might be suffering from one of these eye diseases, contact an ophthalmology clinic (such as Jo Johnson, M.D.) for a check-up today. 

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