What Causes Vision Loss?
There are a variety of causes of visual impairment. In babies, congenital blindness – blindness that is present at birth – can be inherited in a number of ways. Infections such as the German measles can cause congenital blindness, as the disease is transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy. Congenital blindness can also be hereditary. Common causes of visual impairment after birth include: • amblyopia: this condition results in decreased vision in one eye. Amblyopia results from the decreased use of one eye during early childhood. This is because in some infants one eye may focus better; as a result, the brain stops sending messages to the weaker eye, thereby hindering its development. Amblyopia is more commonly known as lazy eye. Misaligned or crossed eyes (a condition that is medically referred to as strabimus) is the cause of amblyopia, as strabismus causes the brain to ignore messages sent to it by one of the misaligned eyes. • cataracts: this condition results in the devel
