Eye Disease Diagnosis & Management in Calgary

Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the peripheral retina and, therefore, peripheral vision. This damage usually occurs slowly over a long period, although one type of glaucoma, acute angle closure, can develop very suddenly.

Glaucoma typically does not exhibit any noticeable symptoms. In most cases, the resulting vision loss is so gradual that the patient doesn’t know until they’ve already lost a significant portion of their sight.

Called “the silent thief of sight,” glaucoma is one of the leading cause of blindness in Canada.

The macula is a small light-sensitive group of cells in the middle of the retina responsible for detailed central vision. When deposits called drusen form underneath the retina, it can disrupt tissue positioning, and prevent effective oxygen transmission to the retina. Once oxygen levels drop low enough, the body can respond in one of two ways:

1. The retinal tissue dies (dry form)
2. New blood vessels push into the retina (wet form)

Both forms cause significant damage to central vision, impacting your ability to read and see faces.

Symptoms of macular degeneration or age-related macular degeneration (AMD) include:

• Blurry vision
• Dark spots
• Lines appear distorted or wavy

As you age, the proteins in your eyes’ natural lens restructure into a cloudy film called a cataract. In the short term, cataracts can be treated with strong eyeglass prescriptions.

Once cataracts become too opaque to see through, the eye’s natural lens can be surgically removed and replaced with an implant to restore clear vision. The surgery typically takes less than 15 minutes per eye and is one of the most common surgeries in modern medicine.

Typical symptoms of cataracts include:

• Blurry vision
• Poor colour vision
• Light sensitivity
• Decreased night vision
• Glare or halos around lights
• Feeling or seeing a film over your eye

When abnormal material congregates in the front transparent layer of the eye, also known as the cornea, it’s called corneal dystrophy.

Corneal dystrophies are genetic and, in some cases, tend to get progressively worse. Although some patients don’t experience any symptoms due to corneal dystrophy, others suffer from impaired vision.

The term retinal dystrophy refers to various conditions that negatively affect the retina (the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye). Retinal dystrophies are genetic and usually occur in both eyes. These conditions typically result in deteriorating vision.

Tumours and cancers occur when the body starts developing irregular or excess cells. There are two main types of eye cancers:

• Primary intraocular cancers begin in the eye.
• Secondary intraocular cancers develop elsewhere in the body and eventually spread to the eye.