subject: Causes And Symptoms Of Optical Neuritis [print this page] Stretching from the back of the eye to the brain, the optic nerve acts as a bridge between these two organs. It is commonly known that the eyes are responsible for converting the entering light to electrical impulses and the brain performs the task of interpreting these impulses. Between these two roles, the optic nerve is very critical because it can send the electrical impulses to the brain.
Healthy optic nerve is essential to maintain normal relation between the eye and the brain. However, there is a condition called optical neuritis, which is the inflammation of the optic nerve. This condition can be very harmful that it can cause partial or full vision loss. In serious cases, optical neuritis is not the end. Instead, it is the beginning of multiple sclerosis which is a more destroyable disease that causes nerve damage in the brain and spinal cord.
There are many symptoms associated with optical neuritis, including loss of color vision, washed out images and eye pain. In particular, red and green colors will be less sharp and duller. Eye pain caused by optical neuritis is more serious when a patient tries to move his or her eyes. Some of optical neuritis patients may suffer severe vision blurriness and vision loss. In some cases, this vision loss can be permanent.
Optical neuritis can be caused by many factors. Common reasons include eye infection, diabetes, and cranial arteries and so on. As stated above, optical neuritis can be an indicator to multiple sclerosis, which involves the body attacking the myelin sheath of the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. In detail, about 50% of optical neuritis patients will develop multiple sclerosis after 15 years.
Optical neuritis occurs more frequently in certain groups of people. This disease covers a wide range of ages from 15 to 50. When it comes to gender, women has a twice rate of causing optical neuritis than men. It is also suggested that Caucasians are more likely to suffer from optical neuritis.
