Common Eye Diseases & Conditions
Cataracts
Cataracts are a common eye condition that occur when your eye’s clear crystalline lens becomes rigid and opaque, often becoming cloudy, yellow, or brown.
There are several types of cataracts, but as they develop, they can impair the quality of your vision, sometimes leading to blindness. Mild visual impairments created by cataracts can be corrected using eyeglasses or contact lenses. However, severe cataracts can be treated with cataract surgery.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma refers to a group of eye diseases that occur when your intraocular pressure (IOP) levels rise, damaging your optic nerve. However, there are types of glaucoma that can develop even without increasing your IOP levels.
Please visit our Glaucoma page for more information about the disease and how we diagnose it.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that occurs when high blood sugar levels damage the blood vessels in your retina. This damage causes the vessels to leak blood and other fluids into your retina, possibly causing vision loss.
In severe cases, the retina may grow new vessels to compensate for the loss of fluids, but these vessels are weak and easily break. These new vessels may also create scar tissue on your retina, increasing your chances of retinal detachment.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of vision loss in adults over 55. 2 common types of the disease include:
Dry AMD
Dry AMD occurs when deposits of lipids, known as drusen, develop underneath your macula. These deposits damage the macula’s light-sensitive cells, impairing the central vision you need to read, drive, or recognize faces.
There is no cure for dry AMD, but studies conducted by the National Eye Institute have suggested that progression may be slowed by taking nutritional supplements and antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, zeaxanthin, and zinc.
Wet AMD
Wet AMD is far less common than dry AMD, but it is responsible for over 90% of AMD-related blindness. Wet AMD occurs when delicate blood vessels develop under the macula, which break and leak fluids. When this happens, you could lose your central vision quite rapidly, requiring emergency medical assistance.
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is a common eye condition caused by various reasons. Depending on what is causing your symptoms, you may need to take antibiotics and be extra careful around others to prevent spreading the condition.
The 3 most common types of conjunctivitis are caused by allergies, viral infections, and bacterial infections.
