What is Night Blindness?

With the word blindness, one might think of complete blindness after it is dark, well, that’s the whole myth. Night Blindness is a condition where a person is unable to see things clearly at dark or may face difficulties in seeing things in the dark. It is also called ‘nyctalopia’.

Though some category of night blindness can be treated with a proper diet and medication, some require surgery and there are some which cannot be treated at all. It’s better to consult an Eye specialist, that doing anything by one’s own self so that one can take necessary steps for its treatment.

What are the causes of Night Blindness?

Night Blindness can be caused due to various reason. The most common causes of night blindness are discussed below:

1. Vitamin A Deficiency: We all have studied this during our school day. The deficit of Vitamin A causes or leads a person towards night blindness. Vitamin A, also called retinol, plays a role in transforming nerve impulses into images in the retina. The retina is a light-sensitive area in the back of your eye. Prescribe nutritional diet can help to restore the condition back to normal if diagnosed at the initial stage.
2. Genetic Disorder: Like many other genetic factors, a person might also inherit disorder such as night-blindness. Usher syndrome, which is another related genetic condition that affects both hearing and vision.
3. Abetalipoproteinemia: This is an inherited condition where a body may not absorb the required necessary nutrition from the food, which later may cause the deficiency of vitamins and minerals which will result in first cause mentioned above.
4. Cataract: It is a condition of eye lenses were a dense cloudy appearance stands between the person and the clear vision. It develops slowly and eventually interferes with your vision. You might end up with cataracts in both eyes, but they usually don’t form at the same time. Cataracts are common in older people above 70 years.
5. Diabetic retinopathy: It is a condition that occurs as a result of damage to the blood vessels of the retina in people who have diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy can develop if you have type 1 or 2 diabetes and a long history of uncontrolled high blood sugar levels. It might also result in total sight loss if remained untreated.