Ocular neuritis is inflammation of the nerves that feed visual data to the brain and enable eye movement. It can result in temporary or permanent loss of vision. Lead exposure can cause ocular neuritis in children, while bacterial or viral diseases and infections are the main causes in adults. Women are more likely to be affected. Treatment may include corticosteroids, but there is no cure for some cases.
Ocular neuritis is an eye condition characterized by swelling and pain in the nerves that feed visual data to the brain and enable eye movement. When the optic nerve, a network of nerves behind the eyeball that transmits visual signals between the retina and the brain, becomes inflamed, this condition is called optic neuritis or retrobulbar neuritis. It can result in a fleeting loss of vision that lasts from one month to four months or permanent loss. Inflammation of other cranial nerves that causes the eye to move up and down or side to side is typically called ocular motor palsy. Autoimmune diseases, lead poisoning, and harmful bacteria overgrowth in the eye can cause both of these forms of ocular neuritis.
Children, especially infants and toddlers whose eyes are still developing, can suffer from ocular neuritis after being exposed to high levels of lead in paint on toys or on walls and windowsills. Exposure to lead via tap water in old lead piped homes can also trigger ocular neuritis in young children. Plumbers who constantly work with old lead pipes can also be affected. In most advanced countries, lead pipes in new homes are banned.
Lead exposure-related neuritis can often be difficult to diagnose, with some doctors mistaking it for a brain tumor or basal meningitis. Diagnosis is often made easier when other conditions completely unrelated to the eye occur at the same time, such as the presence of blue gums in the mouth, a telltale color change caused by lead. In addition to gum changes, health journals have documented children with neuritis who have co-occurring conditions of foot drop, colic, and wrist drop.
For adults, bacterial or viral diseases and infections are the main causes of ocular neuritis. Studies show that most diagnosed patients aged 30 and older contracted neuritis through syphilis and meningitis. Multiple sclerosis is another cause; paralysis of the eye through ocular neuritis is often seen as one of the first signs of the onset of multiple sclerosis. Allergic reactions to drugs or chemicals in the environment can cause neuritis in some sensitive individuals. Sometimes the cause of neuritis is unknown: blurriness, blind spots, and pain when moving the eyes simply emerge with no detectable cause.
Medical research reveals that women are more likely than men to be affected by eye neuritis. Sometimes the nerves repair themselves, ending the neuritis. Other times, doctors can ease the pain of eye inflammation with corticosteroids. In some cases, such as with multiple sclerosis, there is no cure for eye neuritis.
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