If your child has Retinitis Pigmentosa what are some precautions to take?

Identifying Retinitis Pigmentosa

Those suffering from RP can be most readily identified by the symptoms. The field of vision shrinks, a person develops a difficulty reading or seeing detailed images and occasionally becomes clumsy.

Optometrists can use a variety of different testing mechanisms to test for RP.

These include a simple eye chart test, examination of the retina or by conducting an ultrasound on the eye's internal structure itself.

Specifically, retinas pigmentosa causes the destruction of the rod and cone interaction in the eye. Cell death, otherwise known as apoptosis, occurs within the photoreceptors of the rod or cones, causing a loss in night vision at the minimum and full blindness in acute patients.

Treatment for this disorder is limited based on the level of scientific research available. Doctors are limited to analyzing the age and history of the patient and make a determination of how long the disease will take to fully manifest. The main source of treatment is simply protecting the retina using sunglasses with UV protection.