Has anyone come across any research that they could share regarding the deterioration of eyesight with PD.
I am short-sighted and my vision is definitely changing although some of this can of course be attributed to being an old git...
I wondered if there was anything else that I needed to be mindful of
Thank you in advance
I'm not aware of research as such but my impression is that sight problems are on the standard PD list. And I think I am affected. Focus seems to shift and things get blurry. Fortunately distance vision always resolves with a bit of concentration
I am starting to think the issue is lubrication. Rubbing my eye usually helps short term. Lubricating drops (I use celluvisc) are longer lasting
Thanks, I too get similar symptoms, another joy to add to the list...I will share anything I find
All the best
I have convergence problems. Each eye focusses separately and the two images don't converge so I see two images. The problem goes away after I take Rytary. In fact the double vision is what tells me it's time for the Rytary.
My eyesight has been rapidly changing and accelerating from just being blurry and getting worse, but the prescription for near slightness and distance have also changed. My pupils no longer close/open with brightness changes. There appears to be no known counteracting drug to help. My Ophthalmologist is is blank. I take 6-7 doses of 25-250 Sinemet and 600 mg Lyrica / day.
Recently I had to quit night driving at night and the loss of good night vision came suddenly.
I currently flush my eyes at least four times a day. This helps a little..
Tons of research. In fact, most of us should not be driving, not because of motor problems alone, but because of vision problems. See abstract. Full text behind a firewall. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/288...
thank you I will take a look
See this review of research. sciencedirect.com/science/a...
I have also had a deterioration in my close up vision. I bought reading glasses at the store stronger than my prescription glasses and that helped a bit. My ophthalmologist suggested lubricant which I have not yet tried.
i have, the rods and cones in your eyes require dopamine.
healthy-brain.medium.com/fi...
Neuropsychologia (2014)
parkinsonsnewstoday.com/201....
hang tough,cheers!
My tremors are on my right side, and I can say it definitely affected my right eyes vision. I am just dealing with it until my next appointment. My vision was bad enough prior to PD! 😂
I think it has as much to do with aging
My husband (69) has eye issues. Just completed a 4 hour dizzy clinic. Was determined he doesn’t move (naturally shift) his eyes enough due to PD. No remedy. Falls even when using walker.He has dry eye because he doesn’t blink enough and his eyes don’t always close all the way when sleeping. Uses Restassis drops and an eye lubricant gel at bed time.
Can’t get a good correction on glasses.
Very sensitive to light. Always wears (even indoors) wrap around glasses with the darkest lenses available and still painfully bright.
Therefore, he doesn’t read or watch TV much.
Consider this App, it stimulates what is known as the opto-kinetic (eye movement) reflex.
apps.apple.com/us/app/optod...
Also when he looses, does he fall consistently (left vs right)?
Always falls to the left. Tore his rotator cuff almost totally off two years ago. Surgery didn’t go well so he can’t lift his left arm very far.. If he’s going to get a bump on the head- it’s always on his left side. Interesting you would ask this question.. I never put that together with his eyesight.
Could cataracts be a factor?
All of these different symptoms are related.
From Kaypeeoh, "I have convergence problems. Each eye focusses separately and the two images don't converge so I see two images."
From gl2238, "My pupils no longer close/open with brightness changes."
Russellstock "has dry eye and his eyes don’t always close all the way when sleeping. Very sensitive to light. Always wears (even indoors) wrap around glasses with the darkest lenses available and still painfully bright."
From Beehive23 "the rods and cones in your eyes require dopamine"
No one has mentioned night blindness - one of my early symptoms, along with light sensitivity, dry eyes and anisocoria (pupils dilate unequally, common in MS). Some people have pinpoint pupils (a hallmark of organophosphate poisoning, in addition to cataracts).
I was first diagnosed with a convergence defect by a neuro-ophthalmologist and referred to a neuromuscular specialist, MS had already been ruled out. I had a full vestibular workup in Chicago and was referred to U Iowa neuro-ophthalmology, who ruled out MSA, and then brought in an ALS specialist. This process took 18 months with other specialists in-between. My formal ALS diagnosis came 15 months later. I've learned a lot about NDDs along the way.
One of the things I learned is that all of these seemingly unrelated vision problems are related and are caused by dysautonomia - central autonomic dysfunction. The most interesting finding to me was retinal thinning that is specific to ALS, even though the autonomic symptoms aren't.
Rods are responsible for vision at low light levels (scotopic vision). They do not mediate color vision, and have a low spatial acuity. Cones are active at higher light levels (photopic vision), are capable of color vision and are responsible for high spatial acuity.
"The general view advanced from the single cell studies is that dopamine serves as a light signal in the retina, acting in particular to alter rod–cone input."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
"Dopamine is particularly associated with retinal circuitry reconfigurations with nighttime and daytime vision."
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK5...
My DaTScan was negative for dopamine depletion in the substantia nigra (normal) but showed abnormal brain atrophy. I also tested neurotransmitters with a blood test, dopamine was below the level of detection.
Dopamine deficiency isn't restricted to the substantia nigra in PD, nor is dopamine deficiency restricted to Parkinson's disease.
Dopamine is produced in several areas of the brain, including the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area. It is a neurohormone that is released by the hypothalamus.
Autonomic dysfunction is often one of the earliest manifestations of PD. Symptoms of autonomic failure can be cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, urogenital, thermoregulatory, pupillary, respiratory, sexual, or sleep related. I would argue it's all of them.
Deranged immunological mechanisms have been found in PD patients including the presence of autoantibodies against sympathetic ganglia neurons, adrenal medulla and caudate nucleus. On the evidence of on pathological studies demonstrating the early vulnerability of the hypothalamus in aging and PD, and the known role of the hypothalamus in immune modulation, we expect that it will be shown that primary damage to the hypothalamus leads to subsequent secondary degeneration of structures receiving direct projections from the hypothalamus. We also demonstrate that virtually all other areas well known to be impacted upon in Parkinson disease receive significant hypothalamic peptidergic projections.
link.springer.com/article/1...
Is Parkinson's a disease of the substantia nigra or dysfunction of the hypothalamus?
SE
thank you for this
Rather than type it all out, I'd like to refer you to my blogsilverliningsandparkinsons....
Beds for Parkinson's 
Medications for Parkinson's
Lithium for Parkinson's.
Parkinsons and altitude
Medicare and Parkinson's
