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You can get exceptional Cornea and External Disease Assignment Help from our experienced online tutors at Essay For All. Generally, cornea and external disease imply eye conditions affecting the ocular surface. The common diseases that are likely to affect the ocular surface include dry eyes, blepharitis, allergies, corneal infections, etc. These cornea and external diseases involve the cornea, anterior eye chamber, iris, lens, conjunctiva, and eyelids.
Furthermore, cornea and external diseases also involve cataracts, cornel allergies, infections, irregularities, and refractive errors. Eye problems are an underlying challenge among the current generation, especially elderly persons. As a result, nurses must understand these conditions to offer appropriate eye care to patients facing various conditions.
Over the years, the number of students pursuing these courses has continued to rise. For this reason, a thorough understanding of cornea and other external diseases remains core within the medical and nursing fields.
A basic understanding of the cornea
A cornea is a transparent outermost layer enclosing the iris and pupil in the front part of the eye. It has five primary tissues, including epithelium, Bowman’s layer, stroma, Descemet’s membrane and endothelium. The cornea is always clear. However, it encompasses complex cell and protein combinations.
Unlike other body tissues, the cornea lacks blood vessels to nourish and safeguard it against infections. The cornea gets nourished by tears and the aqueous humor fluid that fills the anterior chamber behind it. The two primary roles of the cornea include the following:
- First, the cornea works hand-in-hand with the eyelid, eye socket, and sclera to protect the eye from dust, germs, and other hazardous substances. So, for your eyes to be safe from dust and germs, the cornea plays an integral role in this
- Secondly, the cornea is the outermost part of the eye. For this reason, it serves as the entry point through which light enters the eye. Whenever light strikes the cornea, it refracts the incoming light onto the lens. The lens redirects the light onto the retina, which has light-sensing cells lining the back side of the eye
For a person to have clear vision, the cornea and lens must precisely redirect and focus the light rays onto the retina. In most cases, people allude to this process of how a camera is used to take pictures. The focus must be precise for the images to be clear. For example, the eye’s cornea and lens serve as a camera lens.
On the other hand, the retina estimates the film at the camera’s backside. For this reason, if the cornea fails to focus the light appropriately, the image received by the retina is blurred. This affirms the vital role of the cornea in the entire vision process.
The injuries and irregularities that affect the cornea
The cornea plays a critical role in the vision process. However, it is susceptible to particular injuries and irregularities like projectile foreign bodies, lacerations, and blunt trauma that can result in scarring, likely to cloud the eye. Secondly, hereditary factors like degenerations and dystrophies can also cloud a person’s cornea. The common hereditary condition prevalent in young people is keratoconus. It is a condition in which the cornea becomes cone-shaped.
This condition usually begins in the teenage years and is characterized by frequent rubbing of the eyes. As a result, the keratoconus condition forces the affected patients to use contact glasses. Cornel edema is another irregularity likely to affect the cornea. It is a condition where the endothelial cells at the posterior of the cornea reduce in number, especially after cataract surgery. The cornea can be damaged in the following ways:
- Pathological diseases like Stevens-Johnson syndrome and pemphigoid diseases can damage the cornea
- Secondly, the cornea can be damaged through inflammations
- It can also be damaged through new tissue growths like pterygium and tumors
- Chemical and thermal injuries
- Neurotrophic conditions because of a damaged eye’s sensory nerves
- Hereditary factors like the congenital absence of the iris
Generally, these problems can cause thorough damage to the eye surface and can cause the formation of new blood vessels and scarring, resulting in the loss of vision. Researchers continue to evaluate the possibility of natural products like a serum for modulating and facilitating healing whenever these conditions occur. Equally important, studies continue to explore the precise role of tears in the healing process to enhance the overall visual restorative process. Nursing students must have appropriate skills and knowledge to tackle various unique situations they encounter in their routine work.
Various types of cornea and external disease
Different types of cornea and external diseases exist caused by various factors. These include the following:
- Acanthamoeba keratitis is among the most severe cornea infections prevalent in people who wear soft contact lenses. It begins with eye pain, redness, high light sensitivity, and blurry vision. Unfortunately, failure to treat this condition can cause a permanent eye damage.
- The second type of cornea and external eye disease is conjunctivitis due to the inflammation of the outer part of the eye. The primary causes of this condition are allergies, irritation, viral infection, or bacterial infection. However, each conjunctivitis type has its unique symptoms and signs. Thus, if an eye is red for more than a day with a high discharge, blurry, and painful, it will help if you go for an eye check-up to ascertain the underlying condition.
- Corneal dystrophy encompasses a group of conditions affecting the cornea. Examples are mild changes that eye experts can examine using a microscope. Contrariwise, others can cause corneal opacities and alter a person’s vision.
- A dry eye is another type of cornea and external disease. Generally, it involves the eyes’ inability to make tears as people age. Biologically, the eye is designed to be watery. Hence, its inability to make tears can result in blurry vision and irritation. However, this condition can be remedied using artificial tears, drops, or ointments.
- Excessive tearing due to too much tear production, slow tears drainage from the eyes, and malposition of lower eyelids.
