Retinal Vein Occlusions

He excercises, and could cycle from Bulacan to Baguio! "How could I get an "eye stroke" " , he muttered.  

Branch vein occlusion occurs when a blood clot forms in the veins of the eye, preventing fluids and blood from exiting the main veins out of the eye. This leads to build up of fluid in the center of the retina known as the macula. In some cases, it may even lead to a painful blind eye (neovascular glaucoma). 

Its true that most people who have this condition have other systemic diseases such as hypertension or diabetes.  But the fact that one excercises does not exclude us from this problem, since the aging process catches up with all of us.  Our veins are no longer as compliant (flexible) or smooth as before, therefore is more prone to clogging. 

Fortunately, we have several drugs available now to treat this condition. We have the anti-VEGF(vascular endothelial growth factor) drugs, which block the VEGF our eye produces when not enough blood is supplying it, as in diabetic eye disease.  A minimum of 3 monthly injections are given, and additional injections are given on  a case to case basis. 

For those who don't like repeated injections, we now have Ozurdex. This is a dexamethasone sustained release device, which lasts 3-6 months in the eye.  

Fortunately for this man, he got the injections right away, and his vision was restored.