Iritis

Alternative Names

Uveitis

What is Iritis

Iritis is a type of another condition, called anterior uveitis. It may be described as inflammation of the iris of the eye. The iris is the colored ring of tissue surrounding your pupil. It often causes redness of the eye, often with severe pain, sensitivity to light, tearing and blurred vision.

Signs and symptoms

The most common symptoms of iritis include:

ocular and periorbital pain
photophobia
consensual photophobia (pain in affected eye when light is shone in unaffected eye)
blurred or cloudy vision
reddened eye
white blood cells (leukocytes) (seen as tiny white dots, clinically termed cells) and protein (resulting in a grey or near-white haze, clinically termed flare) leak into the anterior chamber
synechia
motion sickness

Possible complications

Left untreated this disease can trigger the following complications:

cataracts
an irregular pupil
glaucoma
calcium deposits on the cornea (band keratopathy)
swelling within the retina (cystoid macular edema)

What causes

The main triggers of iritis include:

physical eye trauma
ankylosing spondylitis
iridocyclitis, and other forms of uveal tract inflammation
rheumatoid arthritis
behcet's disease
Crohn's disease
Graves disease
lupus
reactive arthritis
chronic psoriasis
psoriatic arthritis
sarcoidosis
scleroderma
ulcerative colitis
gout
tuberculosis
lyme Disease
syphilis
toxoplasmosis
toxocaridae
herpes simplex
herpes zoster virus
leukemia
lymphoma
malignant melanoma

Prevention

You can decrease the risk of iritis, if you avoid processed snack foods, processed meat, white carbohydrates and food items that are high in sugar contains. It is better to ask your doctor about what your diet should include and what it should not include. To have healthy eyes and correct vision make sure that your food contains enough of vitamin A, C and E along with zinc and selenium.