Posted in: Uncategorized by cancerhealercenter
As they say ‘The eye is the lamp of the body, if your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light’. The eyes help us see and interpret the shapes, colors, dimensions, etc. of the objects by processing the light they reflect or emit. One of the biggest threat to the eyes is cancer. Though not common, but there are different types of eye tumors, which roughly affects the same number of men and women. But some types of melanoma (cancer of the skin) and lymphoma (cancer that spreads through lymph nodes) cell cancers are more common in men than women.
Cancer usually spreads to the eye from the other parts of the body (secondary intraocular cancer) than it originates there (primary intraocular cancer). It can affect the outer parts of the eye, like the eyelids (adnexal cancer) or the eyeball (intraocular cancer) or the orbit, tissues surrounding the eyeball (orbital cancer). Primary eye cancer can occur at any stage, but the risk increases with age (above the age of 50). Some of the other common risk factors include: a) Race: Primary intraocular eye cancer is more common in white people. (Research is still being done in this section, one of the reasons is that lighter eye color is more sensitive to sunlight)
b) Sunlight: People who have a higher exposure to sunlight are at higher risk of developing melanoma of the eye.
c) Inherited conditions like abnormal moles on the skin, which results in melanoma cancer and this can increase the risk of eye cancer.
d) Occupations like farming, welding, chemical workers have a higher risk. (Note: No direct link has been found yet).
e) People who have HIV or have autoimmune disease are at higher risk of developing Lymphoma cell carcinoma due to a weak immune system.
Some of the signs and symptoms that can help find the eye cancers are: a) Blurry vision or sudden loss of vision
b) A dark spot on the iris
c) Loss of eyelashes
d) Change in pupil size or shape
e) Ulcers on the eyelids
f) Bulging of the eye
These symptoms can also appear during other eye conditions, hence when such symptoms are encountered, the ophthalmologist should be consulted. Imaging tests like Ultrasound, Fluorescein angiography, CT scan, MRI extra are done to find the tumors cells in the eye. As we are yet to discover the reasons for many of the eye cancers, it is not yet possible to prevent them. However, there are few measures hat can be taken; a) As there is a link between sunlight and melanoma cancer, we can reduce the risk by limiting intense sun exposure and use UV protected sunglasses.
b) Keep your immune system healthy through diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and exercise.
c) Prevent exposure of your eyes to harmful chemicals and radiations.
As an eye cancer rarely has major symptoms in the early stage, it is important to consult the Doctors if severe pain, bleeding or discharge from the eye is encountered, because prevention is always better than cure.
