This post was most recently updated on July 25th, 2023
Overview:-
Night blindness is the type of vision problem. Or the patient may not see clear vision during the night time. It is also known as nyctalopia. In Nepal, night blindness is known as “ratandho”. The term ratandho is mixed up with two words, rat+andho on which ‘rat‘ means “night” and ‘andho‘ means “blind“. The term night blindness doesn’t only reflect the vision problem at night but also create a problem for you during driving a vehicle in the dark area. It is a kind of disorder of your eye which always deprive you to work comfortably.
If you are living in a light area then your ciliary muscle will relax and you won’t feel any discomfort to see any object. But when you suddenly go into the dark area, the ciliary muscle of your eye will shrink. And that muscle will obviously cover a lesser area in comparison to the lighter area. When ciliary muscle covers a lesser area, then the patient will feel that s/he is feeling discomfort on seeing a vision. In this case, the patient won’t clearly see the sign of traffic while driving, can’t catch the glass of water which is present on the table.
Avoiding the use of green and leafy vegetables is the main cause of this disorder. Because those type of foods contain vitamin and those vitamins will play a vital role in preventing any kind of disorder such as night blindness. Mainly, green and leafy vegetables contain Vitamin ‘A’. Vitamin ‘A’ also plays a main role in improving your immunity power. So that it is very necessary to take these type of vitamins enriched foods.
What are the symptoms of night blindness?
There are not many symptoms of night blindness, but the poor vision is regarded as the main symptoms of night blindness.
You would notice that you are not seeing any object clearly when you go to a dark place suddenly from a lighter area.
For example, if you are driving a vehicle on a highway and suddenly you have reached to the underground bridge. You would not see the clear vision at that place like backlight of other vehicles, sidelight, etc. if you have got night blindness. Similarly, if you go to the room of the restaurant for having a launch by walking, then you wouldn’t notice that there is a table, a chair in the room.
Some symptoms of night blindness are as given below:-
- You will feel a slight headache.
- Sometimes vomiting may occur.
- Nausea.
- Cloudy vision( The vision would not be clear. You would feel like something like the cloud is depriving you of seeing any type of object.)
- Eager to live in an area where light is present.
What are the causes of night blindness?
There are several causes of night blindness. Among them, the major causes are given below:-
• Glaucoma:-
It is a type of eye conditions that completely damage the optic nerve of your eye. This will ultimately damage your power of vision as it will be permanent for a lifetime. It is normally caused by high pressure on your eye.
• Nearsightedness:-
If you have the nearsightedness, then you would not see the objects clearly present in a distance by you. And this will create a high chance of having night blindness. It is also called myopia, but this term is most often used by the physician. Your eye would fail to focus on an accurate object of a certain distance that means you would see the object blurry.
• Lack of Vitamin ‘A’:-
Vitamin ‘A’ is commonly known as retinol which plays a vital role in improving the power of vision and immunity power to your body. It is one of the essential nutrients for your body. Due to lack of the vitamin ‘A’ or retinol, you may have the disorder of vision (i.e night blindness) in the future.
• Cataracts:-
A Cataract is generally a clouding of the lens on your eye. It will occur due to the lack of protein. This will often affect either any side of your eye and affect both eyes later on.
• Retinitis pigmentosa:-
It is a type of eye disease that often affects the retina of your eyes. This type of disease cannot be treatable. It will almost damage the retina and the person will be blind completely as there would be no chance of producing an image on the retina.
• Genetic Affect:-
Night blindness is a type of disease that transmitted genetically from one generation to another generation. If one of your parent generations had been affected by the night blindness, then there will be a high chance of having this disease on you.
What are the preventions of night blindness?
The night blindness cannot be prevented completely as it can be transmitted genetically. But we can prevent it by applying certain kinds of points. The points may include:-
- Make a habit of eating green and leafy vegetables on a regular basis.
- Always wear glass on your eye to prevent dirt and ultra-violet ray.
- Use protein and Vitamin enriched foods every day.
Vitamin ‘A’ enriched foods:-
• Green chilly.
• Pumpkins.
• Potatoes.
• Carrots.
• Nuts.
Protein enriched foods:-
• Wheat.
• Barley.
• Bean,etc.
What are the treatments of night blindness?
Treatments of night blindness may be different according to the type and situation. Treatments of night blindness are as follows:-
- Wear a glass that is tested by an experienced physician.
- According to the situation of this disease, some eyes need to have surgery.
- Use a medicine prescribed by the doctor and consult with them for further treatment.
