Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of eye diseases that can lead to vision loss. A layer of light-sensitive tissue is present at the back of your eyes, which is known as the retina. It contains cells called photoreceptors, namely rods and cones. Rods surround the other ring of the retina and get activated in dim light and hence responsible for your night vision and peripheral(side) vision. Whereas cones occupy the center of the retina and help you to see the color and fine details of an object.
When you have RP, these retinal cells don’t work in the way they have to do, which gradually leads to vision loss. During RP, your rod’s cells are the first ones to get affected, resulting in loss of night vision and then side vision. Cones are the second ones affected by RP, which leads to gradual loss of your central vision and your ability to see color.
Retinitis pigmentosa is rare but a common genetic retinal disorder that is inherited from parents to their offspring. Most people encounter disease during their childhood, which progresses with time and eventually leads to loss of sight. However, on an estimation, among 4000 people only 1 get this disease.
Most men face erection problems at some point in their lives. Most men take PDE5 medicines like cenforce 100 for regaining their erections. Unfortunately, the pills like cenforce 100 may turn your RP worse. Cenforce 100 is the most prescribed pill to treat erection issues in men.
Symptoms Of Retinitis Pigmentosa
Generally, retinitis pigmentosa starts in childhood but its symptoms and severity may vary from person to person. By the time they attain adulthood, most people have lost their vision, and after attaining the age of 40, they are considered legally blind.
- The first noticeable symptom of RP is night blindness as your rods are the first ones that get affected by the RP. In such a situation you find it difficult to adjust to the darkness. Like you may face the problem of adjusting to dim theatre light after walking in from bright sunshine or you can’t drive at night.
- Along with or soon after your night vision loss, you may experience peripheral or side vision loss. You may not see the objects by your side without turning your head, known as tunnel vision.
- At the advanced stage of the disease, your cones may also get affected, which will cause difficulty in seeing colors and doing detailed work.
- You may also experience homophobia where you feel uncomfortable in bright lights.
- Or you may also get photopsia, where you may start seeing flashes of shimmering or blinking lights.
Causes Of Retinitis Pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa is a genetic disorder that involves more than 60 genes. Alteration in any one of the genes can lead to the disease. It has been found that the RP can be transferred from parents to their offspring in any of the following ways:
Autosomal Recessive RP
In this condition, the child inherits two copies of problematic recessive genes, one from each parent. Here, since a child needs two mutated genes, each child in the family has a 25% chance of getting this type of RP.
Autosomal Dominant RP
When a parent transfers the dominant mutated gene to their child, the child gets this type of RP where he needs only one gene. Thus each child has a 50% of chance to develop A
autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.
X- Linked RP
The child develops this type of RP when he receives the mutated gene from their parent who is linked to the x chromosome. Males often get affected by this RP as they contain only one x chromosome, whereas women contain 2 x chromosomes, so one x chromosome cancels the effect of the other.
In a study, it has been found that around 20% of RP cases may be autosomal recessive types,10–20% are autosomal dominant types, 10% are X-linked recessive types, and the rest are sporadic.
Erection issues are a common problem faced by most men. Cenforce 100 is a sildenafil tablet that helps a man to get back his erections. Being a PDE5 inhibitor, cenforce 100 stimulates the relaxation of the smooth muscles of the penis, which then improves the blood flow to the penis, causing an erection.
PDE6 is an enzyme responsible for your vision. RP patients already have a deficiency of this enzyme, and pills like cenforce 100 further inhibit this enzyme along with the PDE5 enzyme. So it is advisable to take cenforce 100 cautiously if you are suffering from RP. Furthermore, besides treating erection issues in men, cenforce 100 often comes with some side effects and drug interactions, which can worsen the situation.
Treatment And Prevention Of Retinitis Pigmentosa
Although there is no cure available for retinitis pigmentosa, doctors may prescribe or combine the following things to manage or prevent the progression of the disease, thus restoring some of your sights:
Medication
Medicines like acetazolamide help in overcoming macular edema which is an advanced level symptom of RP. At an advanced stage, at the center of the retina, a small area may swell up. This is known as macular edema which can reduce your vision. Acetazolamide is a diuretic medicine that helps in reducing swelling, thus preventing your vision.
Eye Drops
Eye drops like Dorzolamide may help in reducing macular edema, thus helping in preventing your vision.
Vitamin A Palmitate
When taken in higher concentrations, vitamin A palmitate may slow down the regression of the disease to some extent each year. But take it as prescribed by the doctor as excess can be toxic.
Retinal Implant
If your RP has reached the advanced stage, your doctor may suggest a retinal implant to save your sight to some extent.
Surgery
In some cases, your RP may develop into cataracts. In such a case, doctors carry out cataract surgery to save your partial vision.
