Also called “lazy eye”, amblyopia is an eye disease that causes reduced visual acuity in one eye that is uncorrectable with lenses. 1-5% of the population is estimated to be affected by amblyopia.
The problem always starts during early childhood. The reason of amblyopia is the no transmission or poor transmission of the visual image to the brain. In another way, the eye and the brain are not working together properly. The brain favors the other eye without amblyopia. The disease may also occur on children with cataracts, strabismus, droopy eyelids or crosses eyes. Amblyopia may also happen after tobacco or alcohol consumption.
Early detection is essential for amblyopia treatment. The first years of life are critical for eyesight because the vision pathways in the brain must become strong early. The vision system is mature before a child gets 10. According to clinical statistics, children under five get the best results after amblyopia treatment. Adolescents aged 13 to 17 are hardly to completely recover.
Since there are different reasons that cause amblyopia, the treatment must touch the point. Glasses or contact glasses may solve certain problems. If the amblyopia is due to cataracts, droopy eyelids or crossed eyes, surgery is needed. Another simple way of amblyopia treatment is to force the child to use its amblyopic eye most of the time so that it will get stronger by covering a patch over the normal eye. The treatment should go on until the vision is ok. Currently, various clinical trials and experiments are conducted by experts for more effective amblyopia treatment.