In the United States, over 70 out of every 100,000 people per year will develop an ocular inflammatory disease, also commonly called “uveitis”.

Uveitis is a potentially blinding disease, responsible for 10% of the legal blindness in the US today.

Uveitis is a disease in which the immune system, a part of the human body designed to protect us from infection and tumors, and to repair damage caused by injury, actually turns on the patient and causes damage itself.

There can be many underlying causes of uveitis, and therefore a careful, thorough examination of the eyes and health, review of past medical problems, and laboratory testing is required.

Despite the most careful examination, in many cases, no explanation is found for why the uveitis began.

Regardless of whether a cause is found, because of the potential for serious visual loss, treatment must be aggressive and prompt. Treatment usually begins with “cortisone” type medications, either as a drop, injection around the eye, or in pill form, but sometimes requires powerful medicines beyond cortisone.

Uveitis causes symptoms based on the part of the eye involved, and may include a red eye, pain, decreased vision, sensitivity to light, increased floaters, blind spots in the vision, or sometimes no symptoms at all.

Your EyeMD can use a series of painless tests to determine if you have uveitis. If it is resistant to treatment, or has other unusual features, then they may refer you to a uveitis specialist, an EyeMD who has specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions.