Amblyopia (from dav.-gr. blunt — тупий (non-state), weakened and ὀπός gen. dept. ὄψ — eye) or "lazy eye" - weakening of vision, caused by functional disorders of the visual analyzer.
When amblyopia develops?
Amblyopia develops in diseases such as strabismus, farsightedness, astigmatism, cataract, etc. In ophthalmology, amblyopia is considered one of the leading causes of unilateral vision loss. Around the world suffers from amblyopia 2% people.
Mechanism of functioning of amblyopia.
With this disease, the eyes see different pictures, which does not allow the human brain to combine them into one volume. As a result, the work of one eye is suppressed. In people, who suffer from amblyopia, lack of binocular vision - the ability to compare two images (both eyes) into a single whole. This ability is necessary for depth assessment, volumes and order of location of objects in the field of vision.
Different forms of amblyopia have their own manifestations. With a weak degree of severity, an asymptomatic variant of amblyopia is possible.
Amblyopia in children.
Children, given the lack of sensory experience, cannot adequately assess, how well they can see, and whether both eyes are equally involved in the vision process.
You can think about the possibility of amblyopia in a small child:
- squint
- nystagmus
- inability to clearly fix the gaze on a bright object
Amblyopia may be indicated in older children:
- decrease in visual acuity and lack of improvement from its correction
- disorientation in an unfamiliar place
- deviation of one eye to the side
- the habit of closing one eye when looking at an object or reading
- tilting or turning the head when looking at an object
- violation of color perception and dark adaptation
Visual disturbances in amblyopia can vary from a slight decrease in visual acuity to almost complete loss of it (light sensation) and the impossibility of visual fixation.
Treatment of amblyopia.
The prognosis for amblyopia depends on the causes and time of detection of the disease. The earlier the correction of amblyopia is started, the more successful the result will be. The best effect is achieved when treatment is carried out in children up to 7 years, until the process of forming the visual analyzer is complete. In older children 11-12 years, amblyopia is practically untreatable.
In the case of timely and complete treatment of amblyopia, in most cases it is possible to almost completely normalize vision.
Only early, individually selected and persistent treatment of amblyopia gives positive results.
