Eye Stroke

Our eyes are probably the most important of all our five senses. It contains approximately 1.2 million nerve fibers, all of which require an adequate supply of nutrients and oxygen. When poor circulation to these nerves happens particularly on the front portion of the optic nerve, the result is an eye stroke. In medical terms, this is known as Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (AION) as well as stroke of the optic nerve.

It must be emphasized that a stroke of the optic nerve is not in any way connected to a stroke occurring in the brain. Thus, you will not feel a sudden weakness or numbness in one part of the body.

Seeing Eye to Eye

However, you can suddenly loss many aspects of a perfect vision. It can be complete to partial vision loss in one eye although said loss can progress into the other eye in a short period of time. It can be loss of visual field in the peripherals. It can be loss of visual acuity that varies from nearly normal to extremely impaired.

No matter how perfect vision is adversely affected by an eye stroke, these consequences happen suddenly with little to no warning. As such, the emotional toll is onerous on both the individual and his family and friends. If it happens to you, daily activities like driving, working and even just socializing is emotionally stressful as you are ill-prepared for the sudden loss of sight.

Forms of the Disease

There are two forms of an optic nerve stroke. First, the arteritic form is the most dangerous and is caused by an illness known as giant cell arteritis. You may or may not feel the symptoms of the disease like general fatigue, weight loss and anemia, to name a few. You can, however, be alerted to it by a transient loss of vision that precedes the permanency of optic stroke.

Second, the non-arteritic form is the most common form although it offers a better prognosis than its arteritic counterpart. It is also caused by transient poor circulation to the optic nerve, which is caused by a temporary fall in blood pressure.

No matter which type of eye stroke you may have suffered from, it is important to see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. At the very least, whatever medical treatments are available can be applied in your case.

preventive methods

At present, doctors have limited means to treat an optic stroke. You may be placed on medications to lower intraocular pressure and, surprisingly, be prescribed aspirin to lessen the risk of the optic stroke transferring to the unaffected eye.

Lifestyle changes can also be adopted especially the smoking of cigarettes. You must never attempt to lower your high blood pressure level since a too-low blood pressure level can precipitate an eye stroke.

But of course, it is always best to educate yourself about the risk factors and then take the necessary measures to lessen your own risks. For example, systemic hypotension and extreme hypertension as well as gastro-intestinal ulcers, atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis are just a few of the risk factors for optic stroke. You should adopt lifestyle changes to combat these risk factors. Ultimately, a healthy lifestyle can mean the difference between losing and retaining your sense of sight.

Go to Stroke-symptoms from Eye Stroke