The eye is a vital organ for humans. Physicians often refer to the eyes as the soul’s windows since we receive about 80% of information about the world around us through the eyes.
Eye diseases are highly prevalent in developing countries. Several factors may increase the risk of eye diseases, such as unhealthy nutrition, computer use, and air pollution. Eye treatment in Iran has started a long time ago with advanced technology.
The ability to see is a unique opportunity given to us by nature; it is a very complex multi-stage process, which involves not only all the structures of the eye but also most of the centers of the brain. We need to be able to identify what we see, its size, color, and shape, how it moves, and how to interact with it. Therefore, any visual impairment, even at first glance the most insignificant, changes the quality of our life and sometimes deprives us of many opportunities.
Here are some of the cases that have visible effects on the eyes:
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a common eye disease associated with diabetes, a chronic metabolic disease in which blood sugar levels are elevated. Diabetes is considered the seventh leading cause of death in developed countries. There are different types of diabetes, but all of them can threaten eye health.
Since the body in diabetes cannot adequately regulate blood sugar levels, it causes damage to several organs and body systems. The retina is a thin layer of photosensitive tissue at the back of the eye that receives visual information and transmits it to the optic nerve. The retina vessels are especially susceptible to the damaging effects of diabetes – they “sugar” and break, due to which the nutrition of the retina stops.
Diabetic retinopathy is a serious, vision-threatening complication of diabetes and the leading cause of sudden vision loss in adults aged 20 to 74 years. The damage caused by diabetic retinopathy is progressive and may begin insidiously. But over time, diabetes damages small blood vessels throughout the body, including the retina. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when these tiny blood vessels leak excess plasma. This causes the retinal tissue to swell, resulting in blurred or blurred vision. Diabetic retinopathy is usually present in both eyes simultaneously, and the longer a person has diabetes, the more likely they are to become blind.
People with high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels are also at higher risk.
Frequent visits to the ophthalmologist to monitor the condition of your eyes are a critical component of diabetes management, and early detection of the problem and subsequent treatment can limit the possibility of significant vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy.
For more information, read:
Diabetes mellitus:
The pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy is complex. The leading link is microcirculation disorders associated with hereditary structural features of the retinal vessels and metabolic changes that accompany diabetes mellitus. in diabetes mellitus, the blood-retinal barrier, which prevents the penetration of large molecules from blood vessels into the retinal tissue, becomes more permeable, which leads to unwanted substances entering the retina.
Symptoms
You may experience these symptoms as the disease progresses:
- The appearance of spots or dark strings in your vision (floaters)
- Blurry vision
- Fluctuating vision
- Dark or empty areas in your vision
- Vision loss
When should you visit an Ophthalmologist?
The best way to prevent blindness due to diabetes is to manage the disease it carefully. A yearly eye exam with dilation is highly recommended if you have diabetes, even if your vision appears normal.
Diabetic retinopathy is more likely to occur if you have diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) or if you have diabetes before becoming pregnant. You’ll likely need more eye exams while you’re pregnant, so your eye doctor might recommend them.
Iran has been the top eye care center in the Middle East for decades, using the latest technologies and facilities for ophthalmic treatments. That’s why you people consider travelling to Iran for eye care.
Treatment of diabetes and retinopathy
The goal of any treatment is to slow or stop the progression of the disease. Therefore, people with diabetes should:
- Take all prescribed medications
- Stick to a healthy diet
- Exercise regularly
- Control high blood pressure
- Avoid alcohol and smoking
- Monitor your blood sugar level
- Make sure your blood pressure and cholesterol are within reasonable limits
While there is no special diet that you must follow to keep your eyes healthy, the retina, like the rest of your body, depends on a complete, balanced diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. But even those who take excellent care of themselves can develop diabetic retinopathy over time. If this happens, be aware that treatments can improve your vision or prevent vision loss.
Treatment for diabetic retinopathy includes:
- Injections: Medicines injected directly into the eye can reduce inflammation and stop any new blood vessels from becoming damaged.
- laser procedures. Can seal leaking blood vessels or prevent other blood vessels from leaking;
- Eye surgery: Advanced cases of diabetic retinopathy may require more complex surgical procedures. During these procedures, the doctor will remove and replace the gel-like fluid at the back of the eye, called the vitreous humor. Surgery may also be needed to repair a retinal detachment if it has separated from the back of the eye.
Keep in mind that diabetes does not necessarily result in vision loss. Preventing complications with diabetes can be achieved by having an active role in diabetes management.
Age-related macular degeneration
macular degeneration is one of the leading causes of severe vision loss (up to blindness) in adulthood. This chronic disease associated with aging affects the macula, the part of the retina that provides sharp central vision. It also helps to focus on objects located directly in front of you. Age-related macular degeneration is the loss of central vision. There are two types of macular degeneration:
- Dry (atrophic) form
- Wet (exudative) degeneration
Most people with macular degeneration have a dry form. In this type of degeneration, the macular tissue gradually thins out and stops working properly. A less common wet form occurs when fluid leaks from newly formed blood vessels under the macula. This leak blurs central vision. Blindness can come on quickly and be severe.
Symptoms of degeneration may include:
- Gradual loss of the ability to see objects clearly
- The shape of the objects looks distorted
- Straight lines look wavy or crooked
- Loss of clear color vision
- Dark or empty area in the center of vision
How is age-related Hyperopia?
- A person notices something is wrong when near vision becomes blurry.
- The letters blur, and to read the text in the book and even the message on the smartphone, you must take them away.
- Small work at close range becomes more difficult.
- Eyes get tired faster; tension appears with a headache.
Although the symptoms are similar, presbyopia is different from Hyperopia, in which the eye focuses the image behind the retina rather than on the retina. Farsightedness is most often present at birth, while presbyopia develops with age.
Who is at risk?
Presbyopia is a natural process, an inevitable part of aging that affects everyone. Typically, people notice symptoms after age 40, but age-related Hyperopia appears earlier and is more severe in some.
The risk group includes people who have to work a lot with a computer, and those whose profession relates to examining small details, for example, jewelers and watchmakers.
Treatments
The patient is offered optical or laser vision correction to see up close the near again.
- Glasses and lenses:
- If you already wear glasses or lenses due to refractive errors, you will need additional ones for reading. A more convenient option is bifocal glasses and lenses that combine zones with different diopters, which allows you to see equally well near and far.
- Another less popular option is monovision in which lenses are selected so that one eye sees near, and the other far. These glasses are not suitable for everyone because one eye gets a less clear picture, and you need to get used to it.
- Surgery: For those who do not want to wear glasses and lenses, modern ophthalmology offers several options for the surgical correction of age-related Hyperopia:
- Lens Implantation: replacing the lens with an intraocular lens that mimics the natural focusing ability. Implantation is carried out in one day and the patient does not have to stay in the hospital.
- Conductive keratoplasty: the surgeon uses radio waves of a specific frequency instead of a scalpel, to reshape the retina in such a way as to achieve good near vision. The method is best suited for people over 40 years of age if not have other eye diseases.
- LASIK: You can set up monovision with a laser so the dominant eye sees well at close range and the other at far. This radical option should be chosen only after trying glasses with different diopters.
When it comes to eye problems, eye care in Iran has advanced technology For diagnosis and treatment. If you do not want to put up with age and its inconvenience, contact CarefullTrip. We will help restore your clear vision.
Hypertensive retinopathy
Hypertensive retinopathy damages the retina and impaired circulation of the retina due to high blood pressure. Changes in hypertensive retinopathy result from wear and adaptive changes in the arteries and arterial circulation due to high blood pressure.
High blood pressure destroys the capillaries that supply oxygen to the retina. In severe stages, hypertensive retinopathy leads to irreversible loss of vision. However, as a rule, vision deteriorates very slowly, which makes it difficult to diagnose. In addition to normalizing blood pressure, a competent therapist tries to prescribe metabolic therapy drugs to improve metabolic processes in the brain and retina. The retina is the peripheral part of the brain, so basically whatever is good for the brain is good for the retina.
Hypertension can damage the retina in several ways, including:
The narrowing of the arterioles, the narrowing of the arteriovenous vessels, changes in the walls of the arterioles (atherosclerosis), and abnormal changes at the intersection of the arterioles and venules.
Several more advanced retinopathy-related lesions exist, including microaneurysms, hemorrhaged patches and flame-shaped hemorrhages, ischemic changes, hard exudates, and, in severe cases, swelling of the optic disc (papilloedema, or optic disc edema), a ring of exudates inside the macula and loss of vision.
Atherosclerosis also leads to blockage of the central retinal artery and eye infarction. It is possible to restore blood flow to the muscle tissue even after a sufficiently long time, since other vessels supply the heart muscle, then with occlusion of the central retinal artery. In that case, if blood flow is not restored within half an hour, it might result in the irreversible death of the retina. So, the nerve receptors of the eye are dependent on oxygen.
Glomerulonephritis
Inflammation of the kidneys or glomerulonephritis is less joint and dangerous for vision. This disease leads to a change in metabolic processes; deposits in the eye’s retina accumulate in a typical star shape, which for an ophthalmologist, is a symptom of the renal cause of retinopathy. The deposition of these substances on the retina leads to the death of nerve cells. And often, patients with such a problem complain of loss of visual fields: they see black spots in a color picture.
Autoimmune Thyroiditis
With thyroid gland dysfunction (autoimmune thyroiditis), endocrine retinopathy is really common. Even before the patient has a noticeable goiter, others notice that the person blinks less often, His eyes “rollout”, and a sclera appears between the iris and the upper eyelid, which is not usually noticeable. in fact, the fatty tissue lining the space behind the eye becomes very dense, compresses the optic nerve, and pushes the eye forward. Vision is reduced as a result of optic nerve atrophy.
Retinitis pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe visual impairment and often blindness.
The progression of RP is not sequential. Some people may have symptoms since childhood, while others may notice symptoms later. In general, the later the onset, the faster the deterioration in vision. Those without RP have 90-degree peripheral vision, while people with RP have less than 90-degree peripheral vision. As a form of retinal dystrophy, RP is caused by abnormalities in the photoreceptors (rods and cones) or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), leading to progressive vision loss.
Affected individuals may experience defective light-to-dark, dark-to-light adaptation, or nyctalopia (night blindness), resulting from a degeneration of the peripheral visual field (called tunnel vision.
Eye injuries
Any injury to the eye can lead to a poor or even loss of vision. This may include conditions such as ocular stroke, in which the retina or optic nerve suffers sudden ischemia due to a blood clot in the supply vessels. This usually causes temporary vision loss, but if the condition worsens or is not treated correctly, the blindness can become permanent.
Severe injuries, such as that resulting from a car accident or other situation (such as exposure to certain chemicals), can also cause blindness, either suddenly or after healing. Personal protective equipment for the eyes when working with hazardous materials or in dangerous environments can significantly reduce the risk of eye injury and subsequent loss of vision.
For all the eye problems, you can come to our center for treatment. Iranian eye surgeons are well-experienced in eye surgery and eye care as one of their most prominent treatments. Our team in CarefulTrip can provide you with a personalized quote for all your eye surgery needs, contact us, and we’ll set up a free consultation for you.
For more information, read:
Eyes on Perfection: Advancements in Eye Surgery and Vision Correction