Blindness is an absence or loss of vision in both eyes, making a person unable to see anything. But many people use the word “blind” to refer to poor vision. This word also strikes fear in those who worry about not being able to see at some point in their lives. So, what is it, how does it occur and how can you prevent yourself from going blind?
 

What is Blindness?

Actual blindness is the complete absence of sight in both eyes. It can occur during gestation or at any time in life. Even with glasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgical procedures, vision does not improve. This is often confused with visual impairment, a condition ranging from mild to severe but sometimes improved through glasses, contact lenses, medications or surgery.

About 50 million people worldwide are totally blind. Eighty percent of this vision loss occurs late in life, typically after the age of 50. Conditions leading to blindness include:

• Diabetes

• Macular degeneration

• Traumatic injury

• Cornea or retina infections

• Glaucoma

• Lack of vision correction

• Vitamin A deficiency

• Retinopathy of premature babies

• Stroke

• Ocular inflammatory disease

• Retinitis pigmentosa

• Primary or secondary malignancies

• Birth defects

• Hereditary diseases

• Chemical poisoning

All except 10 to 20 percent of blindness is preventable. But many populations do not have the access to education, adequate medical care, and vision correction needed to prevent vision loss. In the United States, pathways exist to help you prevent many types of blindness. This path is through your ophthalmologist or optometrist and routine eye exams.
 

What is Legal Blindness?

Legal blindness is not an eye health condition. Instead, it is a threshold of vision loss defined by lawmakers as the limit for allowed activities or preferential treatment. You are considered legally blind in the U.S. if your vision cannot be corrected beyond 20/200 in your best eye. The same is true if you have 20 degrees or less of visual field remaining.

Being legally blind qualifies you for preferential government benefits, such as financial assistance or educational services. But it also restricts you from getting a driver’s license. About one in every 300 people in the U.S. are legally blind.
 

Types of Visual Impairment in the Category of Blindness

There are multiple types of visual impairment in the category of blindness. These include:
 

Low Vision

Low vision is permanently poor vision but not total blindness. People with this condition can still see to a certain degree, often well enough to fulfill a normal daily routine. Low vision is a result of conditions like macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts or retina damage.
 

Total Blindness

Total blindness is a condition with no light perception, often as a result of injury, trauma or eye health conditions like end-stage diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma.
 

Congenital Blindness

Blindness is sometimes present at birth, such as from conditions occurring during pregnancy.
 

Legal Blindness

As described above, legally blind people cannot achieve vision better than 20/200 in their best eye, even with methods of vision correction like glasses, contact lenses, medications or surgery. With legal blindness, you must be within 20 feet of something to see it clearly, whereas others can see it from 200 feet with 20/20 vision.
 

Color Blindness

Color blindness is the inability to see differences between colors like green and red. This is typically a genetic condition. It affects about one percent of women and eight percent of men in the U.S. Beyond not being able to see differences in color shades, people with this condition usually have normal vision.
 

Night Blindness

With night blindness, you cannot see well in low light but function normally in daytime light. This is sometimes a genetic condition.
 

Snow Blindness

This type of vision loss occurs after exposure to bright UV light. It is a temporary result of cellular swelling on the cornea’s surface. With snow blindness, you can still see movement and shapes.

Although these are conditions within the category of low vision, actual blindness is the absence of sight. If you are blind you cannot see anything or improve your vision, even with glasses, contact lenses, medications or surgery.
 

Risk Factors

In the United States, we enjoy the benefit of access to ongoing healthcare. Where people do not have this access, such as in third-world countries, low vision and total vision loss are more common.

Key risk factors for being blind include:

• Inadequate prenatal care

• Premature birth

• Poor nutrition

• Aging

• Failure to wear safety glasses when needed

• Poor hygiene

• Smoking

• Genetics

• Ocular disease

• Diabetes mellitus

• High blood pressure

• Cerebrovascular disease

• Heart disease
   

Prevention

Vision loss is preventable in most cases through education and access to routine eye exams, healthcare and vision care. Proper diet is key to preventing many types of blindness. It is also important to detect conditions early and receive appropriate treatment, such as for blindness caused by infectious diseases.

If you have diabetic retinopathy, to prevent blindness you must control your blood sugar levels, maintain a healthy weight, exercise and quit smoking. It is very important to eat complex carbohydrates, not simple carbohydrates, to avoid increasing your sugar load.

Because the odds of going blind increase with aging, it is important to keep up with a routine of regular eye exams. During these exams, your eye doctor can find signs of blinding conditions. In most circumstances, treatment can help avoid major vision loss.

Plan your next visit with your eye doctor at Clarity Vision Centers for a comprehensive eye exam. We have locations in North Carolina and southern Virginia for your convenience. Find the location nearest you and call to schedule an appointment today.