What is World Sight Day?
World Sight Day is an annual event with the aim of raising awareness about vision impairments and focusing attention on the global issue of eye health. The event has been coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) since 2000, with this year’s theme being #LoveYourEyes.
The organisers are aiming to get 5 million eye test pledges from individuals who want to take better care of their eyes, in order to catch out any potential eye health issues and ensure the correct steps are taken to manage the problems before they become serious concerns.
Predictions for eye conditions in Britain
The importance of eye health cannot be understated, as data from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) estimates there will be over 2 million Brits who will experience mild to moderate sight loss by 2025, with this number rising to 2.3 million in 2030. This means that millions more people will be reliant on glasses or contact lenses to correct their vision.
The data from the RNIB also suggests how many people will struggle with the following eye conditions by 2025:
- Macular degeneration: Over 4.6 million people
- Diabetic retinopathy: 1.49 million people
- Ocular hypertension: 1.42 million Brits over 30 years old
- Cataracts: 786,000 people
- Glaucoma: 760,000 people
You may have already heard about some of these, but other eye conditions may still be unfamiliar to you. Therefore, we wanted to highlight what people should look out for when it comes to twelve common sight issues. We also created images to help you visualize what different vision impairments look like to help you decide when it’s time to see a specialist.
12 Common eye conditions
Read on to see how twelve different eye conditions can impact your vision.
1. Astigmatism
Astigmatism is a common cause of blurry vision, which is usually corrected with glasses or toric contact lenses. It happens when your eye is shaped more like a rugby ball rather than a football, so light is focused at more than one place in the eye.
Normal Vision
Astigmatism
2. Short-Sightedness (Myopia)
This is a common condition where you cannot see things that are far away clearly. It can develop in children and in adults later in life.
Signs that you may be short-sighted include difficulty reading words from a distance, sitting close to screens like the TV or a computer, getting headaches and rubbing your eyes a lot.
Normal Vision
Myopia
3. Long-Sightedness (Hyperopia)
This condition affects your ability to see nearby objects which appear out of focus. This often affects adults over 40 but it can happen at any age.
If you are long-sighted you might find yourself having to squint to see clearly, while also getting tired or strained eyes after activities that involve focusing on nearby objects such as reading or computer work.
Normal Vision
Hyperopia
4. Colour blindness
Colour blindness is usually inherited and makes it difficult to differentiate between shades of colours. This happens when the cones of the eye are missing specific light-sensitive pigments.
There are many different types of colour blindness with varying severity. While complete colour blindness is rare, red-green colour blindness is the most common type.
If you have protanopia, you’re “red-blind,” which makes red colours look greener.
If you have deuteranopia, you’re “green-blind,” which makes green colours look redder.
If you have tritanopia, you’re “blue-blind” and have trouble differentiating among blue-associated colours.
Normal Vision
Protanopia
Tritanopia
Deuteranopia
5. Presbyopia
This condition causes loss of reading vision due to age, caused by diminishing flexibility in the lens of the eye.
Normal Vision
Presbyopia
6. Glaucoma
This is a common eye condition where the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, becomes damaged. It does not usually cause symptoms to begin with and develops over many years, affecting the edges of your vision first.
Catching the disease in its early stages through regular check-ups is vital to slow or prevent further vision loss.
Normal Vision
Early Glaucoma
Advanced Glaucoma
Extreme Glaucoma
7. Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that can blur your central vision. It happens when ageing causes damage to the macula, which is a part of the retina at the back of the eye. The macula controls sharp, straight-ahead vision.
AMD doesn’t cause complete blindness and is a leading cause of vision loss for older adults. However, the loss of your central vision can make it harder to see faces and do common tasks like reading or driving.
Normal Vision
Macular Degeneration Stage 1
Macular Degeneration Stage 2
Macular Degeneration Stage 3
8. Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes, caused by high blood sugar levels damaging the back of the eye (retina). This can cause blindness if left undiagnosed and untreated.
Normal Vision
Diabetic Retinopathy
9. Cataracts
A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye. Having cataracts and seeing through cloudy lenses can make it seem a bit like looking through a frosty or fogged-up window.
Cataracts mostly develop slowly and don’t disturb you early on. But with time, cataracts will eventually interfere with your vision. Symptoms include clouded vision, difficulty seeing at night, sensitivity to light, seeing halos around lights and fading or yellowing of colours.
Normal Vision
Cataracts
10. Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) comprises a large group of rarer, inherited vision disorders that cause progressive degeneration of the retina which is the light-sensitive membrane that coats the inside of the eyes.
With these kinds of conditions, the Peripheral (or side) vision gradually decreases until it is eventually lost in most patients. Central vision is usually preserved until late in these conditions.
Normal Vision
Retinitis Pigmentosa
11. Double vision (diplopia)
Double vision is when you look at one object but can see two images. It may affect one (less common) or both eyes and has many possible causes. Some causes include dry eyes, astigmatism, cataracts or keratoconus (where the outer layer of the eye gets thinner and changes shape)
Normal Vision
Double Vision (diplopia)
12. Floaters
Floaters are something that most of us will probably have experienced at some point in our lives. Seeing dots and lines or flashes of light in your vision is common and not usually serious.
Floaters can look like small dots, squiggly lines, rings or cobwebs. They are usually caused by a process called vitreous detachment (PVD), where the gel inside your eyes changes. Floaters only require treatment if you have a problem that could affect your vision.
Normal Vision
Floaters
