Leading Causes of Vision Loss

Now that we have a more clear understanding of the terminology associated with blindness, let us take a look at those conditions that most often cause vision loss.

The leading causes of visual impairment are diseases that are common in elderly persons, including age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, and optic nerve atrophy.

In people over 50, Macular Degeneration is the leading cause of blindness. Recent studies estimate that over 1.6 million older Americans have age-related macular degeneration.

In infants and children, the leading causes of visual impairment are retinopathy of prematurity, deficits in the visual centers of the brain, and eye abnormalities such as cataracts and retina abnormalities.

The fastest growing diagnosis of visual impairment today is Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), a neurological disorder.

Click on a condition below to learn more about it, and in some cases, get an idea of what vision might look like for a person with the condition:

• Macular Degeneration, opens in a new window
• Glaucoma, opens in a new window
• Diabetic Retinopathy, opens in a new window
• Cataracts, opens in a new window
• Optic Nerve Atrophy , opens in a new window
• Retinopathy of Prematurity , opens in a new window
• Retinitis Pigmentosa , opens in a new window
• Retinal Detachment, opens in a new window
• Acquired (Traumatic) Brain Injury, opens in a new window
• Cortical visual impairment (CVI), opens in a new window

Now that you are up to date on the definitions, and on the conditions that are the leading causes of vision loss, you can look forward to the workshop associated with this module. During the workshop, we will “experience” some of these conditions while trying to perform a given task. Stay tuned!

Go Back to the Blindness and Low Vision Page