For those suffering from MS, vision problems are often among the first symptoms to manifest. They could even play a primary role in the diagnosis of the disease. However, these vision problems are not restricted to MS patients. They could occur in association with other medical conditions.
MS vision problems come in different forms. They include optic neuritis, diplopia, nystagmus, and other eye conditions. These are distinct visual problems. Hence, it is important to have a general understanding of what each one is and why it develops.
Types of MS Vision Problems
Optic neuritis, the first of the MS vision symptoms listed, results when the optic nerve experiences both demyelination and inflammation as multiple sclerosis progresses. The optic nerve is a nerve that transmits signals from the eye’s retina to the brain. In this way, visual information is conveyed to the brain, which translates it into images: the optic nerve makes vision possible. While each person has two optic nerves, one for each eye, optic neuritis tends to affect only one optic nerve. This might have something to do with the way in which the tissue damage progresses over time.
When the optic nerve is damaged by progressive demyelination and inflammation, it is no longer able to do as good of a job conveying visual information to the brain. The consequences of optic neuritis include blurring in the patient’s vision, loss of visual acuity and partial or complete blindness. Many patients also suffer pain in the eye, which sometimes manifests as a headache. An additional symptom that has been associated with optic neuritis is reduction in color vision: the patient loses the ability to see colors as vividly as he or she previously could.
The second MS vision problem listed is diplopia, which is also known as double vision. Diplopia results from damage to the brainstem. This is the part of the brain from which cranial nerves (the nerves that serve the muscles of the eye) originate. When the tissue that regulates the movement of the eye muscles is affected, the movement of the eyes is limited. Subsequently, the coordinated movement of the eyes becomes impossible.
The third visual problem associated with MS and mentioned above is nystagmus. In nystagmus, the patient’s eyes engage in rapid movement from side to side or up and down. The eye movement is involuntary. This causes the patient stress in social interactions. Nystagmus results from lesions in the medial longitudinal fasciculus, the cerebellum or on the vestibular pathways.
