至尊英语阅读资料之健康与卫生专题第1064集.pdfVIP

health articles 1064 [26576]Understanding Retinal Detachment Bothered by the sudden appearance of floaters? Troubled by hazy vision? Check with your doctor fast. You could be suffering from a retinal detachment that can make you blind! The retina is a thin membrane attached to the back of the eye. It carries specialized sense receptors that make vision possible. These retinal cells are known as rods (which register black and white only) and cones (which react to color). A person has about 10 million cones and 100 million rods on the retina of each eye. To work properly, the retina gets oxygen and nutri?ents from underlying blood vessels. If it separates from this layer of blood vessels, the problem is called a retinal detachment. Retinal detachment affects 20,000 people yearly in the United States alone. It may follow an injury to the eye, cataract surgery or severe nearsightedness. More men than women develop this condition and the risk increases in people with tumors of the eye and hyper?tension. A genetic factor may also be involved as the condition tends to run in families. “Retinal detachment is a medical emergency, and time is critical. Unless the detached retina is promptly surgically reattached, this condition can cause permanent loss of vision in the affected eye,” according to the Mayo Clinic. The condition is painless. However, symptoms almost always appear before the retina detaches. As the vitreous fluid (the jellylike substance inside the eyeball) shrinks and sags, it may tug on the retina, producing the sensation of flashing lights. If the tugging is strong enough and causes a retinal tear, small blood vessels will be damaged, allowing blood to seep into the vitreous and causing hazy vision and the sudden appearance of new floaters (dark or light spots or specks or lines in the field of vision), said Dr. David E. Larson, editor-in-chief of the “Mayo Clinic Family Health Book.” Whether or not surgery will help depends on the p