Eyesight is not always as it sounds.
May. 16th, 2009 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ame posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no_pityFirst, I'd like to say I love the idea of this community. I have a vision condition known as Choroideremia. Here is a description of it from the Wikipedia page (A note before reading this, I am female and 25-years-old):
"Choroideremia is an X-linked recessive retinal degenerative disease that leads to the degeneration of the choriocapillaris, the retinal pigment epithelium, and the photoreceptor of the eye.
Choroideremia (CHM) is a rare inherited disorder that causes progressive loss of vision due to degeneration of the choroid and retina. It occurs almost exclusively in males. In childhood, night blindness is the most common first symptom. As the disease progresses, there is loss of vision, frequently starting as an irregular ring that gradually expands both in toward central vision and out toward the extreme periphery.
Progression of the disease continues throughout the individual's life. Both the rate of change and the degree of visual loss are variable among those affected, even within the same family.
The actual vision loss is caused by degeneration of several layers of cells that are essential to sight. These layers, which line the inside of the back of the eye, are called the choroid, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and the retina. The choroid is a network of blood vessels located between the retina and the sclera, the "white of the eye." Choroidal vessels provide oxygen and nutrients to both the RPE and the retina's photoreceptor cells.
The RPE, directly beneath the retina, supports the function of photoreceptor cells. Photoreceptors convert light into the electrical impulses that transfer messages to the brain where "seeing" actually occurs. In the early stages of Choroideremia, the choroid and the retinal pigment epithelium initially deteriorate. Eventually, photoreceptor cells also egenerate. As a result, vision is lost."
I was diagnosed with this condition when I was five or six, what this does to me is make it near impossible for me to see in the sunlight without glasses and my vision is significantly poorer than those of a person with healthy eyes. Since my retinas are clear and not opaque as the condition makes them, I have more sensitivity to light than most, though artificial light (sans hallogen lights or other similar bright lights) doesn't bother me.
Awareness of this needs to be brought to light, while there may be a majourity of males with this, there are females too. I will live my life wearing glasses (I refuse to wear contacts after having undergone the testing for this condition) and sunglasses. No amount of eye-surgery will ever repair the damage done to my eyes, but this is a no-pity community, so please learn all you can from me. :)
"Choroideremia is an X-linked recessive retinal degenerative disease that leads to the degeneration of the choriocapillaris, the retinal pigment epithelium, and the photoreceptor of the eye.
Choroideremia (CHM) is a rare inherited disorder that causes progressive loss of vision due to degeneration of the choroid and retina. It occurs almost exclusively in males. In childhood, night blindness is the most common first symptom. As the disease progresses, there is loss of vision, frequently starting as an irregular ring that gradually expands both in toward central vision and out toward the extreme periphery.
Progression of the disease continues throughout the individual's life. Both the rate of change and the degree of visual loss are variable among those affected, even within the same family.
The actual vision loss is caused by degeneration of several layers of cells that are essential to sight. These layers, which line the inside of the back of the eye, are called the choroid, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and the retina. The choroid is a network of blood vessels located between the retina and the sclera, the "white of the eye." Choroidal vessels provide oxygen and nutrients to both the RPE and the retina's photoreceptor cells.
The RPE, directly beneath the retina, supports the function of photoreceptor cells. Photoreceptors convert light into the electrical impulses that transfer messages to the brain where "seeing" actually occurs. In the early stages of Choroideremia, the choroid and the retinal pigment epithelium initially deteriorate. Eventually, photoreceptor cells also egenerate. As a result, vision is lost."
I was diagnosed with this condition when I was five or six, what this does to me is make it near impossible for me to see in the sunlight without glasses and my vision is significantly poorer than those of a person with healthy eyes. Since my retinas are clear and not opaque as the condition makes them, I have more sensitivity to light than most, though artificial light (sans hallogen lights or other similar bright lights) doesn't bother me.
Awareness of this needs to be brought to light, while there may be a majourity of males with this, there are females too. I will live my life wearing glasses (I refuse to wear contacts after having undergone the testing for this condition) and sunglasses. No amount of eye-surgery will ever repair the damage done to my eyes, but this is a no-pity community, so please learn all you can from me. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-25 11:28 am (UTC)I have an uncommonly weird eyesight problem too, I don't even know if there's a name for mine actually! The muscle inside my eye which does the focussing (ciliary muscle) fatigues really quickly (like all my muscles, actually, but this has different consequences). Basically, first thing in the morning with my glasses I can see almost 20/20 but by evening my ability to focus on things is nearly zero unless I really strain.
If I keep straining to focus it gets worse quicker, so I try to arrange things so I can use my eyes without too much focussing. Also it's a reflex to focus on things, so it's hard to not do it!
Anyway, thanks :)
Cheers,
r