What is corneal blindness? | mumbaieyecare

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What is corneal blindness? mumbaieyecare
Cornea is the transparent, outermost layer of the
eye and is used as a refractive medium for image
formation. Tears on the other hand nourishes
cornea by keeping eyes clean and moist. With age
corneal clouding and corneal scar can be caused
by inflammatory diseases, trauma or infection and
may result in blindness eventually. In general
we believe that eye diseases like cataract or
glaucoma are more of concern but if we check the
facts with WHO, corneal blindness constitutes as
much as 5 of total blindness. Ocular trauma and
ulcerations are also cause of 1.5 to 2.0 million
new cases every year.
You may suffer corneal blindness at any age and
the common causes are eye trauma, vitamin A
deficiency, as an after effect of bacterial,
viral, fungal infections and congenital diseases
or sometimes home remedies causes more eye
damage then benefit.
Patients often experience symptoms like tearing,
photosensitivity, eye pain, blurred vision,
glare, redness and a feeling that something is in
the eye.
Regular eye examination can prevent us from
vision loss. In routine visit, your eye doctor
takes complete medical history and diagnostic
aids like slit lamp, keratometry and corneal
topography helps in diagnosing corneal defects.
Corneal blindness can be prevented by reducing or
eliminating exposure to harsh conditions.
Wearing hats and eye glasses to reduce UV rays
exposure. Use of lubricating eye drops in case
of dry eyes and regular visit to eye doctor in
case of symptoms persist.
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With recent advances corneal blindness can be
treated with corneal transplantation/grafting.
Corneal transplant is a surgical procedure where
the damaged cornea is removed and replaced by a
healthy cornea from a deceased donor.
There is little awareness among population about
cornea transplant and cornea donation.
Initiatives to educate people regarding eye
donation, treatment modalities, rehabilitation
centers and eye banks plays an important role to
balance the need of cornea transplant and eye
donation.