Can people go blind without damage to the eye?

Question

Can people go blind without damage to the eye?

Answer 1

If you mean 'without physical trauma to the eye'- absolutely, entirely, 100% yes. There are oodles of surface, lens, macula/retinal disorders, ect that can seriously effect vision to the extent of legal or complete blindness- these usually have a genetic component.

If you mean 'without any damage to the eye, via trauma or eye disease'... yup, that too. Disorders of the optic nerve, or the nerve that transmits information from the eye to the brain will not result in any changes to the eye whatsoever. If someone has pituitary lesions, again, they would experience vision loss but no abnormalities of the eye. Finally, if someone has a traumatic head injury, they may develop a 'cortical visual impairment' that essentially means their brain cannot notice or does not properly interpret signals from the eyes.

Answer 2

Yes, if the person is suffering from a somatoform disorder.

Answer 3

im pretty sure if they are not working, they are damaged. Otherwise they would be working.

Answer 4

If by "Damage" you mean trauma as in something poking an eye out, yes you certainly can.

One of the really nasty things about diabetes is it can cause blindness.  And don't forget those born blind or blinded by syphilis.  There are a number diseases or conditions that can result in blindness.

Answer 5

They can not realize there is damage making them go blind.

One example is glaucoma that continuously narrows your usable field of view without any pain or obvious problem. It would need an ophthalmologist to look at your eyes' nerves and test your field of view to recognize the damage.