Recently, 65-year-old Aunt Li, who lives in Yinzhou, suddenly had a flower in her eyes when she was doing housework at home, and her right eye was completely invisible. "At first, it didn't hurt or itch, but I thought it was because I got cataracts when I was older, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Aunt Li said that it took a week at home to go to the hospital for treatment. After examination, the doctor found that Aunt Li's right eye vision was only light-sensitive, cherry-like erythema in the macula, and the blood vessel blockage in the eye, commonly known as "eye stroke". When Aunt Li heard this, she was stunned, she had only heard of a stroke before, but she didn't expect her eyes to "have a stroke"!
In fact, this disease, which is common among middle-aged and elderly people, has recently become younger. According to reports, a "post-95" young mother in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, lost her sight in her right eye overnight, and was diagnosed with "eye stroke" after seeking medical treatment everywhere, but she missed the best rescue opportunity and could not recover her vision.
What is a "stroke in the eye"?
"Eye stroke" is a figurative term, similar to a stroke, "eye stroke" is caused by blockage of retinal blood vessels, and there are two main types:
Blockage of the central retinal artery
Central retinal vein blockage
The symptoms of the former tend to be more severe!
"Eye stroke" is caused by a blockage of blood vessels due to various reasons, causing a series of secondary damages. Common causes include thrombosis due to endothelial damage to blood vessels, or acute ischemia of the retina and surrounding tissues due to detachment of atherosclerotic plaques on the blood vessel walls, resulting in edema of retinal cells and damage to photoreceptor cells.
Studies have shown that almost all "eye strokes" will cause patients to have varying degrees of vision loss, among which the central vascular occlusion type is more serious: more than three-quarters of patients with central artery occlusion "eye stroke" will have severe permanent acute monocular vision loss, and even lead to monocular blindness, seriously affecting the patient's life and visual quality. At the same time, "eye stroke" can also indicate an increased risk of stroke and ischemic heart disease in the future.
Risk factors for "eye stroke".
Middle-aged and elderly people over the age of 55 are more likely to suffer from "eye stroke" than young people, and at the same time, smoking, obesity, cardiovascular diseases such as "three highs", atherosclerosis, and cardiac insufficiency, as well as diabetes and glaucoma are all high-risk factors for the occurrence of "eye stroke".
Young people should not be taken lightly either: staying up late for a long time, looking at mobile phones, etc., may induce eye strokes.
What are the symptoms of an "eye stroke"?
Patients often present with symptoms of vision loss, which are often sudden and painless.
Many patients describe symptoms as sudden blackness in front of their eyes, and some patients with "eye stroke" will experience sudden vision loss, blurred vision, and difficulty focusing their eyes.
Some people may feel graying and darkening of the visual field. The clinical symptoms are mainly sudden, painless blurred vision or partial visual field defects, and even distorted images, changes in image size, significant loss of vision, and in severe cases, complete blindness.
The "stroke" is ferocious, and 90 minutes is the golden emergency time, just like the rescue of "stroke" must race against time, otherwise it will lead to irreversible damage to vision. In addition, once a "stroke in the eye" occurs, we should be vigilant against the occurrence of a "stroke".
Once you have a "stroke in the eye", how to treat it or save yourself?
When the above symptoms of "eye stroke" appear, even if the symptoms of blurred vision are temporarily relieved, do not hesitate to go to the hospital immediately. As an ophthalmic emergency, the irreversible damage to the retinal photoreceptor tissue mostly occurs after retinal ischemia and hypoxia is greater than 90 minutes, and 90 minutes is the golden treatment time for central retinal artery occlusion. The duration of the platinum treatment is 6 hours, preferably no more than 24 hours.
Before arriving at the hospital, you can immediately carry out some self-help measures, such as massaging the eyeballs with your fingers, compression massage for 10 seconds, suddenly releasing your fingers for 5 seconds, and so on for about 10 times, each massage for 15 minutes, to increase the perfusion of retinal blood vessels, or patients with conditions can also take nitroglycerin tablets under the tongue. At the same time, you should relax and not be too nervous, and then rush to the nearest hospital for emergency ophthalmology treatment as soon as possible.
How to prevent "eye stroke"
01
Control the three highs, and actively treat chronic diseases such as hypertension, arteriosclerosis, and diabetes.
Controlling your diet, avoiding salty and oily diets, and eating more anthocyanin-containing foods can help keep the body's blood vessels open and improve blood circulation.
03
Avoid overusing your eyes to prevent premature aging of the macula of the retina due to the effects of blue light.
04
Avoid overexertion, maintain a calm mood and adequate sleep, quit smoking and limit alcohol.
05
When the cold snap comes in winter, pay attention to keep warm and reduce going out to prevent blood vessels from constricting.
06
Intensify your exercise and avoid sitting for long periods of time to maintain good circulation.
07
It is not advisable to massage the eyes indiscriminately to avoid increasing blood pressure and intraocular pressure at the arteriovenous intersection and blocking venous return.
Self-assessment of "eye stroke" risk
The Amsler checkered chart measures the function of the macula, and vein occlusion may cause secondary macular edema, resulting in decreased vision and distorted vision.
How to use:
1. Place the checkered table 30cm in front of your eyes to make the light clear and even.
2. If you have refractive error (myopia, farsightedness, astigmatism) and presbyopia who need to wear glasses, you need to wear glasses for testing.
3. Cover your left eye with your hand and gaze at the black dot in the center of the checkered table with your right eye to observe the shape of the table.
4. Repeat the above steps to check the left eye.
Self-test tips:
If you have any problems such as distorted squares, uneven lines, darkened vision, discolored lines, defective forms, dark shadows or mist in the center, please go to the hospital as soon as possible!
Comprehensively compiled from: the Affiliated People's Hospital of Ningbo University, the Department of Ophthalmology of Shanghai First People's Hospital, Zhejiang Provincial Eye Hospital, Beijing Daily, Yangtze Evening News, the 940th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Health Times, and Liaoshen Evening News.