Stress on Retinitis Pigmentosa

The beginning of this rare disease was from a mutation of rhodopsin a pigment that is essential in visual transduction and was first recorded in 1989 and since then more than 100 mutations have been found from that gene (wiki RP Genetics). The disease currently has multiple symptoms which include; night blindness tunnel vision (no peripheral), peripheral vision (no central), Latticework vision, aversion to glare, slow adjustment from dark to light and vice versa, blurred vision, poor color separation, and extreme tiredness (RP symptoms). In order to get as a most common cause is both parents have the recessive gene which mainly came from a European heritage. The only way to know if you have the dominant gene is after puberty which shows many of the early symptoms such as night blindness. As time moves along the possibility in degeneration of vision varies and is sometimes unpredictable but sudden blindness is not likely. Stress Involvement

The stress retinitis pigmentosa causes is mainly psychological and not usually physical. If someone with night blindness could not enjoy anything within darkened areas like school dances or indoor laser tag. The main physical stress is when operating a vehicle at night when there are cars coming in the opposite direction with their lights on, the constant shift of light to dark causes an agitation to the glare, as well as when a dark shape is in the distance they usually wouldn’t be able to make it out until it’s within the view of the lights. If retinitis pigmentosa progressed further in the loss of the peripheral or tunnel vision then seeing objects would become harder and portraying of visual degeneration would also be noticeable. It also can cause financial stress based on a 6- or 12-month checkup which can only be seen by an eye specialist. Other Symptoms

A strong possibility is poor color separation which is usually relating to the close similarities of like colors such as a dark blue and violet or dark blue and black. Another possibility is blurry vision which is not very common within the genes mutation and that could be adjusted by wearing glasses specific to fixing the blur. Lattice work vision is when the peripheral retina has atrophied and the blood vessels look like the fibers in a lattice pattern (naturaleyecare.com lattice).The last known symptom is extreme tiredness which isn’t physically being tired but having the appearance such as droopy eyes or sluggish blinking. Looking for a Cure

There is not cure for Retinitis Pigmentosa but prolonging the harsher symptoms is achievable which a greater intake of Vitamin A supplements or Vitamin A enriched foods. Given from the research of Retina disorders 4th edition; in 2006 a study on stem cell transplant was done on mice and were given similar characteristics of humans they showed a progressive result on slowing or stopping the degeneration of the retina. In 2008 the protein Pikachurin was discovered with a massive amount of Vitamin A which could be used as treatment when final analysis has been achieved. In 2010 gene therapy on mice showed good results hopefully within the next decade it would be tried on humans. Also in 2010 R-Tech Ueno (a Japanese medical research company) is in phase II of their ophthalmic solution known as Ocusera. Coping

The few ways to cope with something such as retinitis pigmentosa is to accept its “curse” and try to continue on bending to the limitations but still trying to enjoy the rest of life. There is also trying to do certain night based activities but that could be dangerous and based on my own experience retinitis pigmentosa is and has been my only stress.

Reference

Symptoms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinitis_pigmentosa
Lattice
http://www.naturaleyecare.com/eye-conditions/lattice-degeneration/ Definition
http://www.credoreference.com/book/ehsmosbymed

Retinitis Pigmentosa (Zitelli and Davis, 2007)
Often hereditary, characterized by bilateral primary degeneration of the retina beginning in childhood and progressing to blindness by middle age. Clinical signs include night blindness, reduced visual fields, depigmentation of the retinal pigment epithelium, and macular degeneration. Length of time to legal blindness varies widely.