Retinitis Pigmentosa is the most common hereditary, degenerative eye disease. The disease is typically slow in its progress. Most people affected by the disease do not become blind until they are between the ages of 40-50. However, there are cases that show more rapid progression.
In Retinitis Pigmentosa, abnormalities in the retinal pigment epithelium and the rod and cone photoreceptors of the eyes lead to progressive blindness. Symptoms begin with night blindness which is followed over time by increasing tunnel-vision and, sometimes, by loss of vision in the central field.
There is currently no cure for Retinitis Pigmentosa. However, blindness can be postponed by up to 10 years through a daily regiment of Vitamin A.
Retinitis Pigmentosa became familiar to 13 year old girls and gay men everywhere during Cycle 3 of the Tyra Banks vehicle, America's Next Top Model, when contestent Amanda revealed that she suffered from the disease. The sad irony was that it was Amanda's pale blue eyes which were her most beautiful feature.
This sick gets a:
1 on my "lethality scale" (1-10)
and a 1 on my "distrubing scale" (1-10)
Posts
