Corneal blindness is a disorder that results from the cornea becoming clouded, making a person blind. This condition can result from a variety of diseases, injury or infection.

Injuries to the eye, birth defects, malnutrition, infections, chemical burns, congenital disorders and complications of eye surgery.

There are many things which cause blindness. Sometimes babies are born blind, but most blind people become blind later on. Glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy are the three most common causes of blindness today. Many older persons lose their vision from macular degeneration. Some people become blind through accidents.

There are many diseases that can lead to vision loss, such as diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, corneal pathology, glaucoma, hemianopia, macular degeneration & retinitis pigmentosa.

Most color vision problems are inherited (genetic) and are present at birth. Other color vision problems are caused by aging, disease, or injury to the eye (acquired color vision problems). Inherited color vision problems are more common than acquired problems and affect males far more often than females.

The main causes of blindness include cataract, glaucoma, trachoma, onchocerciasis (river blindness), childhood blindness, diabetic retinopathy, trauma and age-related macular degeneration. Of the 37 million people who are blind worldwide, cataract accounts for approximately half of all cases. Glaucoma is ranked as the second main cause of blindness, but not in the Pacific region. Diabetic retinopathy is particularly prevalent in the Pacific region.

Infections, whether bacterial, fungal or viral are frequent causes of sever corneal damage ulceration. Abnormal steepening of the cornea (keratoconus), degeneration occasionally following cataract surgery (corneal edema or swelling), and some aging processes can also affect the clarity and the health of the cornea. Some disorders of the cornea are inherited and can lead to corneal clouding and the loss of sight. top

Corneal dystrophies tend to run in families and are considered genetic. Some dystrophies are associated with dominant genes. In this case, a "dominant" gene for a corneal dystrophy is needed from only one parent for a child to inherit the condition. "Recessive" genes require both parents to carry the gene for a corneal dystrophy for the child to inherit the condition.

Blindness, to most people, means a complete loss of sight. As they grow older, some people with RP do become blind in this sense. However, many will retain a small amount of vision such as light perception. A majority of people with RP are legally blind by the age of 40. People who are legally blind usually maintain a good deal of functional vision supplemented by adaptive technology.

They can. Over time, if they’re allowed to become opaque enough, they block so much light that you are unable to see at all. This rarely occurs in the US anymore, but is a problem globally.

Night blindness is one of the most common vision problems night blindness. Vitamin A is actually a cure for this condition. Triple B SuperVision contains adequate dose of Vitamin A in its natural precursor form, beta-carotene. Lutein (a member of xanthophylls) is an antioxidant and consists one of a large group of over 600 compounds known as the carotenoid pigments. These pigments give yellow, green or orange coloration to vegetables and fruits and they are precursors for Vitamin A.

Most people think that all persons who are blind live in total darkness. Actually, blindness encompasses a wide range of vision loss, from the legally blind person with 20/200 acuity or severely restricted fields, to the totally blind, with many varying degrees of blindness in between. The most general terms used to describe vision loss are "low vision", "visually impaired", or having a "vision disability".

It is thought that people who are blind cannot live alone or work independently, but people can readjust living and working skills to their new situation. This is accomplished through specialized training such as independent living skills and with the help of many aids and adaptive technologies available to the blind.

Color blindness, more accurately called color deficiency, is a term used for a deficiency in recognizing certain colors. Most color perception defects are for red or green or both. Another form of color blindness; yellow-blue is the second most common form, but it is rare and could be a result of some optic nerve disease. Complete color deficiency, where all colors are seen as varying shades of black and white is almost unknown.

Most of our communication and interpersonal relating is nonverbal in nature. The person with Asperger Syndrome has trouble reading these nonverbal cues and therefore ignores the bulk of communication. This mind blindness leaves the spouse wondering if she is understood or cared for or trusted by her Aspie partner.

Deaf-blindness is defined as concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.

This is a surgical procedure which replaces a disc-shaped segment of an impaired cornea with a similarly shaped piece of a healthy donor cornea.

A corneal fellowship is a course of advanced study and practice in all aspects of corneal disease and care. Typically, a physician who is interested in eye care first enrolls in a residency program in ophthalmology. The residency program provides training in all areas of the eye, eye diseases, and eye care, and may enable the physician to become a board-certified ophthalmologist.

In the corneal ring segment treatment, we make an incision in the side of the cornea, place a tiny plastic ring inside the cornea to flatten its curvature, then close the incision. The ring treats mild nearsightedness and mild astigmatism in patients with very thin corneas, and may be used to treat a disorder called keratoconus. The rings are not visible to the patient or to others, and may be removed if necessary.

Click here for more information on becoming a corneal donor. To contact the Eye Bank, click here or call 1-800-NE-PA-EYE (637-2393).

Corneal transplants are usually performed as outpatient surgery with local anesthesia, although it can be performed under general anesthesia. Normally, a shot is given to numb the eye while the patient is sleeping. Most patients are then awake during the rest of the procedure which is done after the eye has been numbed. Because sedation is given, patients remain calm and often nap through much of the procedure.