Retinitis Pigmentosa

Someone's comments on my father's nerves problem, Meralgia Paresthetica (MP), prompted me to write this post about his eye disease.

He was dignosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) about eight years ago. His vision has deteriorated much since then. He cannot read without a magnifying glass. He still plays sudoku though. We have to buy the larger print ones for him. Besides difficulty with reading, he also can't see well at night or in dim lights.

Although MP is also not curable, it's avoidable and symptoms can improve. RP is a lifetime disease and is not reversible but patients don't necessary lose their eyesight totally. Most of them will retain a small degree of central vision like my father.

He also has cataracts which if operated on, may (note: may and not will) enable him to have a clearer, though only slightly clearer, vision. The procedure is costly but I think we'll give him this clearer vision for the rest of the few years of his life.

Some links below:

Blindness.org
Wiki-Retinitis Pigmentosa
British RP Society
All About Vision