The greater the ophthalmologist’s knowledge of general disorders, the more help he will be in their diagnosis, or at least in making a wise referral. And this applies as much to nervous disorders as it does to diseases in the blood. The central nervous system is necessarily and intimately connected with the eye and vision, which are therefore affected by nerve and brain abnormalities. Read the rest of this entry »
The retina, or rear receptor part of the eye, consists of a layer of different kinds of cell which meet the demands of different kinds of sight: detail and outline, colour, light and dark. But these cells cannot work unless they can produce the chemicals used to react with light energy, and the chemicals that are used to transmit the light-nervous energy to the brain. These chemicals and their application are a vastly complex subject which is still being explored; but it is known that all the products needed for retinal function come, in the last analysis, from the blood supply. Read the rest of this entry »
At the beginning of this century the most prominent cause of blindness was infections of the eye. The eye is exposed externally to infections because of the very delicate skin-lining of the lids and sensitive outer membrane of the eye itself. Other tissue areas of equal susceptibility to infection are the nose, mouth and genitalia. It is even possible for all these orifices to be infected by the same organism.
Since the the availability of antibiotics has drastically reduced the incidence of chronic consequences following an infection. Many serious infections, provided they are treated quickly, no longer inflict severe damage. Read the rest of this entry »