• Question: Can some people be born blind,if so how? :)

    Asked by to Andrew, Elaine, Emma, Michael, Nancy on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Nancy Carlisle

      Nancy Carlisle answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      There are lots of ways that people can be born blind. Sometimes this is due to someone’s genetics- this is called ‘congential blindness’. Sometimes it can be due to injury before they were born (certain illnesses). Other people become blind either through an injury that injures some part of their eyes, the optic nerve which connects the eyes to the brain, or the part of the brain that processes visual information. All told, there are lots of bits that have to work right in order for us to see!

    • Photo: Emma Reid

      Emma Reid answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      Hi Heather!
      As well as inherited disorders, babies may be born blind if the pregnant mum has an infection, like German Measles. Babies born prematurely can also become blind and this is called retinopathy of prematurity. When babies are born too early they are often given oxygen to breathe to help them survive but this has a bad effect on the developing retina and causes new leaky blood vessels to grow. These vessels don’t work properly and can cause the retina to detach from the eye. Hope this helps! 🙂
      Emma

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