Jul 13th 2020
Posted by Accuspire
Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease and The Eyes
Brain tissues and eye tissues have a close bonding between them and various neurologists are researching it. The brain is responsible for decoding the visual information sent from eyes and making it a picture for us to understand. The connection between the brain and eye is the optic nerve. The optic nerve and retina are actually brain tissue which has stretched out of the brain, according to researchers. This is why our eyes get affected when diseases affect the brain.
Some of the important diseases are Alzheimer’s and dementia which damage brain cells and have other effects on the retina.
Alzheimer’s disease and eyes:
It is a degenerative neural disease and damages cells and neurons. It is caused because of abnormal built up of protein. Some of the common symptoms are difficulty in thinking and reminding, memory loss, cognitive decline etc. depth perception is also one of the symptom. Some people also have contrast problem, trouble in reading and following moving objects etc.
Alzheimer is the most common type of dementia accounting for 60-80%. Some other types are stroke dementia and vascular dementia. Some people are affected with mild cognitive impairment and it is an early stage for Alzheimer’s.
It is diagnosed by cognitive testing for thinking and memory and brain imaging scans. But literally, Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed only after death by examining brain tissues.
Optical coherence tomography is done to track retinal changes for any possible eye diseases. On the other hand Fluorescein lifetime imaging ophthalmology is done to measure protein in retina. If you think that you have memory loss or dementia, consult your doctor immediately.
