about keratoconus-little know facts
About Keratoconus
When you say you have keratoconus people just look amazed at you because they don’t have an idea what are you talking about.
The common response is: Why you just don’t buy a new pair of glasses and stop complaining? In short, we all have had these experiences, certainly, keratoconus is a very rare condition and few people have heard about it.
It is that rare that even students of ophthalmology don’t know many keratoconus patients. It has a prevalence of about 1 in 2000 people, with no particular predilection for race or gender. This means that in a City of 1 million persons, only 500 might have the condition, but I believe that only about 100 will be properly diagnosed with advanced cases.
When does Keratoconus start?
One of the rare facts about keratoconus is that almost always starts in our teen years. As a result, there is no way of knowing when this condition really starts, but probably by when you are diagnosed, you have had it for years. However, your symptoms were so little that you didn’t notice anything wrong with your vision.
I remember the allergies and the pleasure when you rub your eyes. It was a time in my life when I was studying hard and my vision deteriorated over this time period. I also remember to always look to close objects, for instance to the floor when I walked, I guess I was a little self-conscious regarding my visual habits.
Another thing that I did was squinting a lot to try to see the small letters. It is a coping mechanism to try to see but it means that you don’t see well with your current prescription and need to go see your ophthalmologist.
Conclusion
A genetic disease
The idea that keratoconus is genetic is losing traction. Have you seen a fat lady with a fat dog? the dog is fat because the owner gives him too much food, not because the dog is genetically susceptible to being fat.
There are many factors causing our problem; the disease is multi-factorial and everything helps or deteriorates your vision. Most importantly we need to be resilient and get the best help we can without losing the final objective of living with keratoconus.
What do you think?
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Thank you and Good luck!
Heriberto R.
Hi, I love to improve myself and others. Reach me on social media or at heribertorangel.com