Amblyopia

Amblyopia or lazy eye is a disorder of the eyes. It is characterised by poor or dim vision in an eye that is otherwise physically healthy and normal. The problem is normally due to a faulty connection between the eye and the brain, which did not develop correctly during early childhood. Amblyopia normally only affects one eye, but it is possible to be amblyopic in both eyes.

Amblyopia is relatively common: estimates say it affects roughly 2-3% of the population. If it is detected early enough, it may be corrected by occluding the stronger eye for periods of time to force the weak eye to develop good vision. However, this treatment rarely works for adults, since the visual system is fully developed before adolescence. However, recent research has shown that some therapy can improve visual acuity slightly in adult amblyopes.

Many people who suffer from amblyopia, especially those who are only mildly amblyopic, are not even aware they have the condition, since the vision in their stronger eye is normal. However, people who have severe amblyopia may experience several vision disorders, such as poor depth perception.

Amblyopia can be caused by a number of conditions, including strabismus (misaligned eyes) and anisometropia (different degrees of myopia or hypermetropia in each eye). Since strabismus is a common cause of amblyopia, it is sometimes inaccurately referred to as "lazy eye."