One among the most important organs of the human body is our eyes. The optic nerves carry electric impulses of the image that we see to the brain from the retina. The optic nerve contains a million nerve fibers which carry part of the visual information that we see. Damage to the nerve fibers leads to interruption in the message transferred to the brain and hence the sight becomes blurred. In Optic Nerve Atrophy the optic nerve gets degenerated or damaged. It is also called as Optic Nerve Head Pallor due to the pale appearance of the optic nerve head at the back of the eye.
The various symptoms of Optic Nerve Atrophy are blurred vision, decrease in visual function wherein the sharpness and clarity of the vision decreases, poor constriction of the pupil in light, decreased brightness in one eye compared to the other and change in the optic disc.
There are a number of reasons for Optic Nerve Atrophy. One of the many reasons is Toxic Optic Neuropathy. This is caused due to nutritional deficiencies and poisons which lead to a gradual loss of vision or optic disc swelling. One among the Toxic Optic Neuropathy is called tobacco-alcohol amblyopia which is caused due to the toxins present in tobacco, low levels of vitamin B12, poor nutrition and poor absorption due to alcohol consumption. Nutritional Optic Neuropathy is associated with deficiency of protein or B vitamins and folate due to starvation, malabsorption or alcoholism.
There is no effective treatment for nerve atrophy as the nerve fibers once damaged cannot be repaired. The only way to prevent this disease is by quitting Smoking addiction .
