Common Eye Diseases
Eye diseases can be dangerous and lead to vision loss if not treated early. So, learn about the major eye problems and their details to seek the right treatment early.
Written by Dr Sonia Bhatt
Last updated on 3rd Jul, 2025
Human eyes are complex organs comprising several intricate parts that create the perfect vision. The significant elements of the eyes are the cornea, iris and pupil, tear ducts, optic nerve, lens and retina. They consistently work together to produce a clear vision and maintain the smooth functionalities of this system. But, when they start malfunctioning, the eyes experience vision issues. These will lead to mild or severe eye disease and, at their extreme, can result in vision loss. Thus, knowing the common eye diseases, their symptoms, and treatment is of utmost importance.
General Categories of Eye Diseases
There are three types of eye diseases -
Refractive errors: This vision problem makes it difficult to see with a transparent view. It occurs due to the uncommon eye shape, which restricts light from properly focusing on the retina.
Vision impairment: It happens when certain eye conditions, such as cataracts or conjunctivitis, affect the visual system and its functionalities.
Degenerative eye diseases: These diseases cause the gradual loss of central vision. The most common degenerative eye disease is macular degeneration.
Cataracts
Cataracts occur when the lens becomes cloudy. As a result, people lose their clear vision, making reading, writing, and driving difficult. This disease occurs due to several reasons -
Ageing or any injury that changes the tissues around the eye lens
When proteins and fibres on the lens started to break down
If there is a family history of developing cataracts
Other eye conditions include past eye surgeries or medical conditions like diabetes
Also, long-term usage of steroid medicines can cause cataracts
Symptoms of cataracts include -
Blurred, clouded, or dim vision
Difficulty seeing at night
Seeing halos around lights
Sensitivity to light and glare
Double vision in one eye
The doctor may recommend the following diagnosis tests to identify this condition –
Vision or vision acuity test
Eye structure exam
Slit lamp
Fluid pressure test
Retinal exam
Surgery is the only treatment for cataracts, and doctors recommend it only when the condition worsens and affects the individual's daily life.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease that harms the optic nerve of the eye. It happens due to an increased eye pressure. In most cases, glaucoma does not exhibit any symptoms, but specific signs of this condition depend on its sub-type.
Open-angle glaucoma: It develops blind spots in side (peripheral) vision. Most people don't notice any changes in their vision when they have this glaucoma, but in advanced stages, they experience difficulty in central vision.
Angle-closure glaucoma: It appears when the iris bulges. In this case, people have severe eye pain, blurred vision, and red eyes.
Normal tension glaucoma: If someone has this glaucoma, their eye pressure remains normal, but they have glaucoma signs such as blind spots in their vision.
Pigmentary glaucoma: This condition includes symptoms such as halos around light. It occurs when pigment granules fall off the iris and block fluid drainage.
The screening process for glaucoma includes several tests, such as measuring intraocular pressure, checking for optic nerve damage, and checking for vision loss. Glaucoma is treated with eye drops and oral medication. In some cases, surgery or other therapies are required.
To prevent glaucoma, one should –
Take prescribed medicine
Eat a healthy diet with vitamins A, C, and E
Participate in physical exercise
Limit the caffeine intake
Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a retinal condition caused by natural ageing. In this case, people might lose central vision but not the entire vision. It occurs in people older than 50.
The symptoms of AMD include blurred vision, low vision, and vision difficulty in low light. Moreover, people with a family history of AMD, overweight, smoking habits, and hypertension have the highest risk from this disease.
Some management strategies of AMD include –
Nutritional supplements
Anti-VEGF (anti-vascular endothelial growth factor)injection and other drugs
Photodynamic therapy
Laser photocoagulation
Diabetic Retinopathy
Any diabetes patient can develop diabetic retinopathy, an eye condition that affects the retina and leads to blindness or vision loss. However, with the proper treatment and care, it can be prevented.
The common signs of the eye condition include blurred vision, poor vision at night, viewing colours as faded, small spots in vision, and difficulty seeing faraway objects.
In the early stages, the doctor may conduct regular eye exams to observe this condition, and based on the condition, they might recommend other treatment options, such as injections, vitrectomy, or laser surgery.
Also, adopting some prevention strategies would be helpful for this eye condition. These include –
Keeping the blood pressure within normal range
Controlling diabetes
Avoiding smoking
Going for annual eye exams
Exercising regularly
Dry Eye Syndrome
Dry eye syndrome damages the tear film that protects the surface of the eyes. Symptoms may include blurred vision, stinging, watery eyes, feeling sensitivity to light, and mucus from the eyes. This eye condition derives when the eyes fail to create sufficient tears, or they evaporate too fast, or both.
Some of the risk factors of this disease include –
Environmental factors such as weather
Lifestyle factors such as prolonged screen time
Medications
Surgeries like cataract surgery
The diagnosis of this eye condition includes checking medical history and conducting eye tests like slit lamp, tear breakup time test, and Schirmer's test.
Common treatment options include –
Eye drops - Artificial tears, ointments
In-office procedures - Thermal pulsation therapy, intense pulsed light therapy
Punctual occlusion
Therapeutic contact lenses
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, a membrane covering some eye parts. Symptoms of pink eye include redness on the eye's sclera, eye discharge, dry or watery eyes, itchy eyes, etc.
It's an infectious eye condition that easily spreads and is transmitted through viruses, bacteria, fungi, or parasites. There are three major types of pink eye –
Bacterial: This type of pink eye occurs due to a bacterial infection. The common bacteria are Staphylococcus and Streptococcus.
Viral: Viruses cause short-term conjunctivitis. The most common type of virus is from the adenovirus family.
Allergic: This type of pink eye never spreads between people. Instead, it occurs due to allergens or irritants.
Doctors apply different treatment methods based on the type and symptoms of the disease. These include antibiotics, antiviral drugs, lubricating eye drops, and warm or cool compresses.
Some preventive measures for this condition include –
Using eye protection
Frequently washing or sanitizing the hands
Washing hands before taking eye drops
Not sharing reading glasses and sunglasses
Prevention of Eye Diseases
Eye diseases can be prevented with the following methods –
Regular eye examinations: Everyone, even people without corrective lenses, should have eye exams at least every 1 or 2 years.
Healthy lifestyle choices: To secure eye health, individuals must follow a healthy diet and weight and avoid nicotine use.
Protective eyewear: Wearing protective eye gear will help safeguard the eyes from injury.
Not ignoring eye symptoms: Gradual or unexpected vision changes require help from an eye care specialist.
Conclusion
Most people ignore regular eye check-ups if they don't experience any symptoms of eye diseases. This lack of awareness about eye health often leads to eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, etc. Thus, everybody must go for eye check-ups to detect the underlying conditions. Early detection and treatment will manage the diseases better. However, surgical intervention is necessary in some cases. Nevertheless, with effective care it is possible to avert most eye conditions and lead a healthy life.
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