The human eye is an amazing organ, let’s take an in-sight-ful look at what’s actually happening inside your eye!
The secret to the magic of the human eye is light. Light bounces off everything around you and then into your eye. It passes through a thin veil of tears, then through your cornea. This clear layer helps to focus light before it reaches the retina.
The retina sits at the back of your eye, and light is projected onto it like a projector.
Curved corneas mean the human eye actually can see upside down
There are some amazing facts about the human eye, too. Did you know, our curved corneas mean we actually see the world upside down? Then our brain flips the image the right way up. Isn’t that unbelievable?
Also, having 20/20 vision just means you can read a chart from 20 feet away in normal lighting. It’s possible to have 20/10 vision, which means you can see at 20 feet what most people can only see at 10 feet – quite the spectacle!
20/20 vision means you can read a chart from 20 feet away in normal lighting
The eye is a delicate, complicated organ and sometimes, a person’s vision can be far from 20/20. At Orbis, our work focuses on the blindness we can treat or cure – like cataract, trachoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Cataract is a condition that slowly clouds the lens of the eye. It usually affects older people but it’s possible to be born with cataract or to get cataract after an eye injury. Luckily, treatment is relatively straight-forward for those with adequate training – an operation to replace the cloudy lens.
Trachoma is an infectious disease that leaves eyes weeping and itchy. Untreated, the person’s eyelashes turn inwards and scrape the surface of the eye, leaving them irreversibly blind. The treatment for trachoma is a simple antibiotic or surgery if the case is advanced.
Trachoma is an infectious disease that leaves eyes weeping and itchy
Diabetic retinopathy is one of a number of eye conditions caused by diabetes. High levels of sugar damage the back of the eye and cause blindness if left undiagnosed or untreated. Thankfully, it progresses slowly, giving us time to treat the underlying problem but a huge amount of work still needs to be done around awareness and education.
There are plenty of places to learn more about this amazing organ, and how you can help protect and restore the sight of people all around the world, on our website.
