Night blindness: its causes, symptoms, and treatment
Night blindness is the inability to see clearly in low light or dark places, and we will introduce you to its causes, symptoms, and treatment methods.
Night blindness, night blindness, or retinitis pigmentosa (Night Blindness) is a disease that affects the retina in the eye, and it is a type of visual impairment and vision at night or in dimly lit environments.
Infection with this disease affects the field of vision, and the affected person needs to scrutinize a lot to see the things around him.
Causes of night blindness
The problem of night blindness begins with difficulty seeing in the dark, but with time the condition may develop and the weakness of vision increases until it becomes difficult for the person to see during the day as well.
Night blindness occurs mainly because of a defect in a type of light receptor in the retina known as rod cells, which helps vision in the dark or in low light.
This defect in the photoreceptors of the retina may affect the person as a result of several different factors, the most prominent of which are the following:
Genetic factors: A child may be born with a problem in the retina, which affects vision and the rod cells, which increases the chances of him suffering from night blindness later on.
Vitamin A deficiency: Vitamin A is what nourishes the retina of the eye, and its deficiency leads to visual impairment. This vitamin is found in many food sources.
Infection with some diseases: as in the case of cataracts, which causes damage to eye tissues and greatly affects the power of vision, as well as glaucoma, which affects the optic nerve.
Eye surgeries: Since these operations affect vision, especially in the dark, we can fix an eye problem, but the tissues are affected and the person suffers from night blindness.
Symptoms of night blindness
The incidence of night blindness is associated with the appearance of several different symptoms in the patient, which include:
Poor vision at night: the person's inability to see clearly in the dark, and stumbling over things while moving due to not seeing them, especially in low light.
Double vision: This is an indication of an eye problem, which could be night blindness or other diseases.
Keratitis: As a patient with night blindness can suffer from dryness and irritation of the cornea more than others.
The appearance of gray spots in the eye: These gray spots can be seen on the white of the eye.
Taking a long time for eyesight to adapt to the change in lighting: that is, the need for a long time to be able to see objects when moving from a place with strong lighting to a place with weaker lighting.
Night blindness treatment
Night blindness is treated based on knowing the cause that led to its occurrence. For example, if the cause is cataracts, then a special operation is performed to treat it first, and thus treat the night blindness.
In addition, there is a set of medical tips that must be followed to treat or reduce the severity of night blindness, which are:
1. Eat foods that contain vitamin A
As we mentioned previously, vitamin A is the nutrient for the eye’s retina, and therefore foods rich in it will contribute to the power of vision, which may include the following:
whale liver oil.
calf liver.
carrots.
spinach.
parsley.
apricot.
eggs.
cantaloupe
sweet potato.
pumpkins.
mango.
This vitamin can also be obtained from dietary supplement capsules prescribed by a doctor.
2. Wear eyeglasses
In some cases, medical glasses can help strengthen vision at night, and for this reason, the doctor performs a vision test and determines the appropriate medical glasses.
3. Not looking at a strong light at night
Whether the yellow light in the headlights or the car lights that the driver lights in the evening, looking at them increases the difficulty of seeing.
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