Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Floaters in the eye
I have been inspired to write about floaters recently... since my present work involves with culturing of cells!!! :) Labels: Eye
I first started to notice a flying grey spot in my right eye, as early as I was 6 or 7 when I was staring into the sky. I rubbed my eyes, but it wouldn't go away. It doesn't cause pain, neither does it severely obscur my vision. And I wasn't able to focus on looking at the grey spot. If I tried to focus at the spot, the spot would move along as I shift my direction of view. I was very young then and I couldn't put all these thoughts into words. I thought it would be fine after a few days, so I left it there.
Since then 18 years has passed and the grey spot has not gone away. Not that it poses a lot of inconvenience, and most of the time I wouldn't take notice. It would become prevalent especially when I am staring at a blank wall, or when I am focusing on reading. The spot would appear at a corner, distracting me from reading, and become especially disturbing during my english comprehension exams...
A few days ago as I was observing my dish of cells under the microscope, the glaring lights of microscope would reflect into my eye, and the little grey spot surfaced again. As I look, I thought that the grey spot resembled my dish of floating dead cells in the media. Suddenly it dawned on to me --- the floater that has been sneaking in and out of my life for about 18 years, could be caused by some malfunctioning of the cell in my eye!
Hence I looked up the internet.
Indeed!!! The floaters is a cell that I've been seeing!
I rarely felt so accomplished, and I was amazed by how I am driven to want to find out about these cells. It has been long since I last felt this way.
Floaters are grey spots/threads, and they appear in the field of vision in some individuals. Some people got it when they were born, others acquired it as they grew older. Floaters are tiny clumps or strands of cell debris that float in the Vitreous Humor (Gel-like fluid that fills between the lens of the eye to the retina lining at the back of the eye. This is unlike the fluid at the frontal part of the eye which can be constantly replenish.) Although Floaters appear as though they are floating in front of the eye, they are actually floating in vitreous fluid, and this cell debris casts a shadow on the Retina (a light sensitive tissue lining the inner layer of the eye), hence shadow of the cell debris is what we see - grey spots. Moving your eye up and down creates currents within the the vitreous fluid, thus the floaters move along too. They will never stay still as you try to focus them - they move as your vision shifts too.
Floaters can also be resulted from the normal ageing process when vitreous fluid degenerates, other abnormalities in the eye, or your eye was just not very well developed when you were borned. They are not a cause of worry, unless you see a sudden onset of new clusters of floaters, then please consult an eye doctor. While it has been reported that they may diminish by themselves over time, mine hasn't.
And as usual, my drive for more knowledge doesn't bring me very far... Ha.. I have yet to establish why and how did the cell debris manage to get into the vitreous humor. There are many reasons of cos, but I haven't looked into it. At the very least, the basic idea is there! If you would like to find out more about the technical details, please wiki it youself :)
I will continue to blog till I am inspired again. :)
