Arcus Senilis is a growing health issue that is a whitish-grey or bluish ring forming around the frontal part of your eye iris which is the colour part of the eye. Other names for this eye health condition are corneal arcus or arcus juvenilis if it happens to younger people.
This can be broken down into two categories:
Talking about how this happens, lipids that settle around the cornea cause the white-grey opaque rings. Lipids are simply fatty materials and cholesterol is one of them. Initially, researchers thought that the rings signified high cholesterol levels in human blood. The corneal arcus rings mostly consist of cholesterol.
High chances of cholesterol appear once a person reaches the age of 50 or 60 years old or older than that. This case suggests ageing to be one of the main factors for arcus senilis in both eyes. If a person has arcus senilis in both eyes, that case is called bilateral arcus senilis.
Arcus senilis mostly occurs in people who are 60 years old or above. 7 out of 10 people are affected after this age.
If you are younger than 40 and you see this white ring then you are highly recommended to go to an eye doctor. They will probably do a lab test or blood work for high cholesterol lipids triglycerides to ensure that you’re systematically okay because if you are seeing this white ring and you are younger than 40, it indicates something is wrong.
Apart from high cholesterol and triglyceride conditions, alcohol use disorder is also a common cause. Some studies have shown that it appears more commonly in men since they have larger arcus. Mostly people of African and Asian descent develop this condition.
It is the unilateral or one-eye arcus senilis that you need to watch out for as it is a symptom of some major heart diseases, such as coronary artery disease and stroke.
As mentioned above, bilateral arcus senilis which happens in both eyes is common and not dangerous. It just forms a thin ring in each eye and just kind of sits there doing nothing. It doesn’t grow beyond a certain a certain size and neither causes tissues to weaken or break down.
Arcus senilis appears more as people age. This might surprise you that in the age group of 60 years and older, about 60% of people have corneal arcus and when you reach 80 and older, the chances are higher.
As you age, it can eventually turn into a full ring right around the cornea. With age our lipids break down a little bit slower and our capillaries become a little more profuse and so we get more lipid and cholesterol fatty deposits in that cornea.
You tend to notice it more in people who have dark brown or green eyes because the whitish or bluish and greyish rings tend to stand out a little bit more.
These are the several structures of the eye that arcus senilis has an impact on:
Corneal arcus is fat deposition around your cornea, indicating an increased level of cholesterol in your eyes. Yes, that can happen at any part of the body when respective blood vessels get stuck there because of the lipid count.
Arcus senilis and Arcus juvenilis come from the Latin words arch, elderly, and juvenile.
The reason why it is called corneal arcus or arcus senilis is because it usually starts in an arc form. It arcs on the top part of the cornea and the bottom.
Ophthalmologist and Eyelid surgeon, Dr Michael Chua says, ‘Corneal arcus is a white or grey ring around the edge of the cornea. These rings are made up of lipids or fat deposits in the cornea or the transparent outer layer of the eye. They form when these tiny fat and cholesterol particles permeate through our blood vessels and stick to the edge of the cornea.’’
Chua also explains that the chances of having corneal arcus are almost a hundred percent in patients who are above the age of 80 and chances are they are likely harmless and are considered a graceful way of ageing.
The doctor, however, states that it is not the same for younger people and it can often show increased fat or cholesterol in the blood meaning hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia. Due to this, a younger person may develop a lipid disorder and cardiovascular diseases like a heart attack and a stroke. So, it is better to consult your doctor when you notice the signs.
Arcus senilis is best treated when your eye doctor takes the preliminary test of the frontal part of the eyes under slit-lamp examination. A special eye drop is used to numb your eyes for a few minutes and then your pupil is ready to widen the other minute. This will help your eye specialist to see if there is any progressing sign of lipid deposition around your eyes, that appears with thin film.
After checking the thickness of the vessels the doctor will determine the level of fat deposits. If the doctor doesn’t find anything good for you but if it is the other way round, they will refer you to their primary care doctor who will then conduct your blood test.
After you have completed your blood test, you will do as instructed by your doctor.
Some medicines to lower cholesterol are statin drugs, bile acid-binding resins, and cholesterol absorption inhibitors.
In case of age-related and bilateral, there is no treatment as it is less harmful. Still, check your cholesterol regularly.
You can prevent age-related arcus senilis and for that, you need to keep your cholesterol levels in check. We recommend you do these things:
While cataracts and arcus senilis are both normally age-related conditions that occur in your eyes, they are not the same.
Cataracts can grow and make your eye visibility worse with time but arcus senilis doesn't affect your vision. It rather signifies some other underlying health conditions. A doctor can perform surgery and remove cataracts but there an arcus senilis doesn’t require surgery.
Cataracts may develop very early in life or some babies may be born with them as a response to trauma or some disease but they can never happen in the case of arcus senilis.
Arcus senilis is basically a condition that develops as people age as deposits of fats surround their eye’s cornea. You might ask why older people. This happens normally because the blood vessels in the eye open with age, letting more cholesterol get in.
If the condition develops in people under the age of 40, the wisest thing to do is not to ignore it and go to a nearby eye clinic & consult a doctor, and do a blood test to check their cholesterol level. Only the colouring around the eye shouldn’t be a problem as it doesn’t create any vision problems.
Ans: Arcus senilis generally starts as a grey or white arc in the eye above and below the outer cornea which is a clear, domelike covering over the front of the eye. The arc may eventually become a complete ring around the iris.
Ans: If you are under 40 and have arcus senilis, that could often be due to an inherited condition that will increase the level of cholesterol and triglyceride levels. In young people, that case is called arcus juvenile. A child being born with this condition is very rare.
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