Blindness

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Neurofibromatosis I, enlarged optic foramen

Overview

Treatment

Blindness

Definition:

Blindness is the lack of vision, or a loss of vision that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Blindness may be partial, with very limited vision, or complete, with no perception of light. People with vision worse than 20/200, or a field of vision of less than 20 degrees in the better eye, are considered legally blind in most states in the U.S.

Alternative Names:

Loss of vision

Common Causes:

Blindness has many causes. In the United States, the leading causes are diabetes, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and accidents (such as chemical burns or injuries from bungie cords, fishing hooks, fireworks, racket balls, and similar objects).

Worldwide, the leading causes of blindness are cataracts, onchocerciasis (river blindness), trachoma, leprosy, and vitamin A deficiency.

Other causes include:

Blocked blood vessels
Complications of premature birth (retrolental fibroplasia )
Complications of eye surgery
Lazy eye
Optic neuritis
Stroke
Tay-Sachs disease
Retinitis pigmentosa
Retinoblastoma
Lead poisoning
Optic glioma

Review Date: 4/8/2005
Reviewed By: Raymond S. Douglas, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Ophthalmology, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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