There are many eye conditions people may suffer from at some stage in their life. We have listed some of the most common ones below.

Dry Eye Syndrome

Dry eye syndrome is a complex condition that is primarily caused by tear deficiency (poor tear volume/quantity), excessive evaporation (poor tear quality) or both. Modern environmental conditions such as air conditioning, computer use and pollution can exacerbate symptoms and signs, even in patients with relatively normal tear volumes.

Cataract

A cataract is a loss of transparency in the crystalline lens in the eye. The structure of the crystalline lens is something like an onion: it has layers, which are added to it as we age. This layering of extra tissue on the crystalline lens makes it harden and lose some transparency with age.

Nowadays in the west an eye that loses functional vision due to cataract will have the lens removed and a new man-made lens (known as an intraocular lens or IOL) implanted in what is now a simple and common place procedure.

Sadly cataract is the number one cause of blindness in the rest of the world where access to this procedure is almost non-existent.

Diabetic Retinopathy

The bodies of people with diabetes can't use or store sugar properly. When blood sugar gets too high, it can damage the blood vessels in the eyes. This damage may lead to diabetic retinopathy. In fact, the longer someone has diabetes, the more likely they are to have retinopathy.

In later stages, the disease may lead to new blood vessel growth over the retina. The new blood vessels can cause scar tissue to develop, which can pull the retina away from the back of the eye. This is known as retinal detachment, and it can lead to blindness if untreated.

In addition, abnormal blood vessels can grow on the iris, which can lead to glaucoma.

People with diabetes are 25 times more likely to lose vision than those who are not diabetic, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Glaucoma

Despite its simple and potentially early detection in a routine eye examination glaucoma is still the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the UK. Once detected it is usually managed simply and effectively with drops. Glaucoma is an increase in the internal pressure of the eyeball.

Occasionally this has rapid painful onset but in the majority of cases it is a gradual progression with the pressure on the retina and the back of the eye leading to permanent damage and gradual loss of peripheral and then central vision. As the loss of the field of vision is slow it is generally not noticed until it is too late.

A family history increases the likelihood of developing glaucoma and so everyone over 40 with a direct family history is entitled to a free eye examination on the NHS.

High myopia

When the light coming into the eye falls short of the retina the resultant image is blurred on the eye. You can imagine, this being caused either because the cornea and the crystalline lens, the eyes optical system, is too powerful or conversely it could be due to the length of the eye being too long. In reality it’s probably a mixture of both causes.

So the eye is anatomically too long or the optical system too strong and the light falls short of the retina. Patients with myopia will tend to find that distance images are blurred but it is less of a problem close up.

Most myopes have a low to moderate error corrected well with glasses or contact lenses. However a small percentage of individuals have such a high prescription that is due to the severity of the disability; the poor visual and cosmetic lenses are often referred to as milk bottle bottoms.