​Adie's pupil - Cause And Symptoms

It is a type of neurological disorder which affects the nervous system of our body. As we all know the nervous system is made up of nerves, spinal cord and brain. It is the control center of involuntary muscles. Sneezing, salivating and sweating happen automatically because of involuntary muscles.

The Pupil is responsible for controlling the light flowing through it. When there is bright light, the pupil constricts and when there is less light, the pupil gets dilated. When a person is suffering from Adie's disease, the pupil functions abnormally. Mostly it affects only one eye and the affected people do not constrict when a bright light is there.

The cause for this disease is unknown. However it is said that it is caused by a bacteria or viral infection which infects the nerve controlling pupil. Some research suggests that it may be also because of autoimmune disease as the tissues get attacked by its own immune system.

Adie's pupil Symptoms

Some of the symptoms of this disease are: one pupil larger than the other, sensitivity to light, vision getting blurred, difficulty in reading and focusing on objects, pupil do not get constricted in bright light. This disease rarely affects both eyes. Excessive sweating is also one of the symptoms.

It can be diagnosed easily by an eye examination. Special diagnostic eye drops are given to see pupil’s response to it. Pupil with this disease will get smaller. Sit-lamp exam is also done to see the Pupil's response. Another method is Pupil response testing. It is done to see pupil response to low and bright light.

There is no cure for Adie's pupil. However there are ways to relieve symptoms. Glasses are helpful in improving reading, light sensitivity is reduced by using sunglasses. Eye drops are used to make the pupil smaller. Some may get recovered from this disease and others are never recovered or not fully recovered depending upon the condition. This is not a life threatening disease and it can be managed with proper medication.