06 Eye Diseases
06 00 Amblyopia
06 01 Cataract
06 02 Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS)
06 03 Disorders of conjunctiva
06 04 Disorders of the lacrimal system
06 05 Glaucoma
06 06 Microphthalmos, Anophthalmos, and Coloboma (MAC)
06 10 Uveitis
06 11 Visual disturbances
Developmental problems, injury, or breakdown of any part of the eye can lead to changes in vision and vision loss. Each part of the eye works to turn light into images. If one or more parts of the eye are not working correctly, the light information our brain receives may change or not arrive. Some of the most common eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and inherited retinal diseases, are caused by damage to cells in the retina.
Understanding the color treatment system is crucial as it can guide you in your treatment journey. Each disease or condition is assigned a unique code, which includes a treatment color. This system is designed to help you quickly identify the treatment options for your specific condition, empowering you to take control of your health.
Scroll down the site to find your disease or condition. Then, you look for the treatment color. The treatment colors are magenta (red-blue), blue, cyan (blue-green), green, yellow (red-green), and red. I give the treatment colors a number. Magenta = 0, blue = 1, cyan = 2, green = 3, yellow = 4, and red = 5. For instance, Amblyopia (Lazy eye) would be categorized as 06-00-1. Here, the last digit, the treatment color, is blue. The first two digits are the disease/condition group (Eye Diseases are 06). The next two digits (Amblyopia (Lazy eye) is 00) are the illness within the group, and the last digit (blue is 1) is the treatment color. This system can help you quickly identify the treatment options for your specific condition.
When you use the projector, click on your treatment color, and a large image will appear. Make the color cover the whole page and project it onto yourself. When you use the LED light bulb, you choose your color manually.
A lazy eye (amblyopia) is a diminished vision in one eye due to abnormal visual development during early life. The weaker or lazy eye often turns inward or outward.
Amblyopia can develop from birth to seven years of age and is the primary cause of reduced vision in children. A lazy eye rarely impacts both eyes.
A cataract develops when the lens in your eye, which is usually clear, becomes foggy. For your eye to see, light must pass through a transparent lens. The lens is behind your iris (the colored part of your eye). It focuses light so your brain and vision can process information into an image.
When a cataract clouds the lens, your eye cannot focus light similarly. This leads to blurry vision or other vision loss (difficulty seeing). Changes in your vision depend on the cataract’s location and size.
Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is a condition in which visual hallucinations occur due to vision loss. CBS is not associated with psychosis or dementia, and individuals with CBS recognize that their hallucinations are not real. The hallucinations experienced by individuals with CBS can be described as either simple or complex. Simple hallucinations include shapes and patterns, while complex images encompass people, vehicles, animals, and plants. Hallucination episodes may last from a few seconds to hours and can recur over several days to years.
The conjunctiva is a part of the eye that covers the white of the eye. Irritation or damage to this surface can lead to conjunctival disease. The conjunctiva can be damaged by injury, infection, chemical irritation, allergic reactions, dry eye, and, rarely, cancers. Inflammation of the conjunctiva is known as conjunctivitis. Inflammation may be caused by infection (such as trachoma) or by an auto-immune response in which the body attacks itself using the system that typically fights off infection. Age can also cause the conjunctiva to become loose and develop folds.
Symptoms of conjunctival disease may range from redness and irritation to discharge, swollen eyelids, a burning sensation, and pain. Some conjunctival conditions can cause significant scarring.
The lacrimal system, or apparatus, is the anatomical system containing the ocular structures responsible for tear production and drainage. Therefore, any disruption to the production or drainage of tears can result in lacrimal disorders, leading to acute or chronic eye discomfort.
Dry eye is one of the most common eye problems. As we age, the protective tear film on the eye’s surface diminishes, exposing the delicate tissues to the drying effects of air, wind, dust, and the sun.
Wet eyes refer to blockages within the lacrimal drainage system that can prevent tears from draining into the nose, causing them to accumulate on the lower eyelid and spill onto the face.
Bacterial conjunctivitis is characterized by lid swelling, yellowish discharge, a scratchy feeling in the eye, and itching and mattering, especially in the mornings upon awakening.
Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, vital for good vision. This damage is often caused by abnormally high pressure in the eye.
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness among people over the age of 60.
While it can occur at any age, it is more common in older adults. Vision loss due to glaucoma cannot be recovered. Therefore, it’s essential to have regular eye exams that include measurements of eye pressure so a diagnosis can be made in the early stages and treated appropriately.
Microphthalmia is an eye abnormality that arises before birth. In this condition, one or both eyeballs are abnormally small; in some affected individuals, the eyeball may appear absent. However, even in these cases, some remaining eye tissue is generally present. Such severe microphthalmia should be distinguished from another condition, anophthalmia, which occurs when no eyeball forms. Despite this distinction, the terms anophthalmia and severe microphthalmia are often used interchangeably.
Microphthalmia may or may not result in significant vision loss. People with microphthalmia may also have coloboma, characterized by missing pieces of tissue in the structures that form the eye. Colobomas may appear as notches or gaps in the colored part of the eye, known as the iris.
Uveitis is a group of diseases that cause inflammation of the uvea, the middle layer of the eye that contains most blood vessels. These diseases can damage eye tissue and possibly lead to loss of vision. People of all ages can be affected.
Symptoms may resolve quickly or persist for an extended period. Individuals with immune system conditions, such as AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis, or ulcerative colitis, may be at a higher risk for developing uveitis. Symptoms often include blurred vision, eye pain, redness, and light sensitivity.
Visual disturbances occur when you experience a brief episode of flashing or shimmering light in your vision. The symptoms typically last about twenty minutes before your sight returns to normal. Usually, there is no headache accompanying the visual disturbance.