Symptom: Night blindness

Introduction: Night blindness

Any type of vision loss (e.g. blindness, blurred vision, double vision, etc.) is a symptom of great concern. Many of the causes are very serious medical conditions. Certain types of vision changes can be a medical emergency where delay can lead to loss of sight (e.g. for causes such as glaucoma, eye injury, retinal detachment) or loss of life (e.g. for causes such as stroke, TIA, etc.). Even transient or temporary blindness or loss of vision cannot be ignored because it can result from serious conditions such as stroke, TIA, hypertension, epilepsy, or migraine. Seek immediate professional medical attention for any such symptoms of vision changes.

» Review Causes of Night blindness: full list

Causes of Night blindness:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Night blindness. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Retinitis pigmentosa
• Vitamin A deficiency
• Malabsorption - if it affects vitamin A absorption
• Celiac disease
• Cystic fibrosis
• Bile duct obstruction
• Cirrhosis of the liver
• Diabetes
• Cataracts
• Macular degeneration
• Severe short-sightedness
• Congenital night vision disorder
• See also causes of night blindness

See full list of 67 causes of Night blindness

» Review Causes of Night blindness: full list

Night blindness: Multiple Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Night blindness, as listed in our database. Visit the Multiple Symptoms Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Multiple Symptom Checker - Other Symptoms

• Night blindness: Multiple Symptom Checker

Multiple Symptom Checker Combinations

• Night blindness and Impaired vision (46 causes)
• Night blindness and Vision changes (46 causes)
• Night blindness and Visual problems (46 causes)
• Night blindness and Blindness (45 causes)
• Night blindness and Eye symptoms (37 causes)
• Night blindness and Vision distortion (29 causes)
• Night blindness and Nerve symptoms (26 causes)
• Night blindness and Sensations (25 causes)
• Night blindness and Face symptoms (21 causes)
• Night blindness and Head symptoms (19 causes)
• Night blindness and Infant symptoms (16 causes)
• Night blindness and Ear symptoms (15 causes)
• Night blindness and Itching skin (15 causes)
• Night blindness and Hearing impairment (15 causes)
• Night blindness and Muscle symptoms (14 causes)
• Night blindness and Skin problems (14 causes)
• Night blindness and Skin symptoms (14 causes)
• Night blindness and Deafness (14 causes)
• Night blindness and Hearing symptoms (14 causes)
• Night blindness and Developmental problems (13 causes)

See full list of 1137 Multiple Symptom Checker combinations related to Night blindness

Home Diagnostic Testing and Night blindness

Home medical tests possibly related to Night blindness:

• Vision & Eye Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Eye Tests
  • Home Vision Tests

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

• Vision changes (1312 causes)
• Vision loss (509 causes)
• Impaired vision (911 causes)
• Blindness (331 causes)
• Visual problems (1302 causes)
• Vision distortion (1062 causes)

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Night blindness

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Night blindness:

• Blindness (331 causes)
• Vision loss (509 causes)
• Color vision loss
• Blurred vision (511 causes)

Diagnostic Guides for Night blindness

Medical Books Excerpts Read excertps from published book sections related to Night blindness from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Night blindness. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Night blindness

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic tests for Night blindness:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Night blindness. Some of these are listed below :

• General inspection
  • Inspect for obvious signs of malnourishment which may suggest vitamin A deficiency as a cause of night blindness
• Visual acuity - reflects the integrity of the central field.
• Visual field examination
• Ophthalmoscopy and slit lamp examination - to examine the optic nerve, macula and retina.

See full list of 5 diagnostic tests for Night blindness

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Night blindness. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

• How long have you had night blindness? - to determine if acute or chronic.
• Is your vision during the day also affected?
• Past medical history? - e.g. diabetes increases risk of cataracts which cause degraded night vision; cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, nephrotic syndrome and cirrhosis of the liver may cause Vitamin A deficiency and night blindness.
• Past surgical history? - e.g. intestinal bypass surgery may cause Vitamin A deficiency.
• Past refractive error? - e.g. myopia (short-sightedness) people are at increase risk of macula degeneration which may cause degraded night vision.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Night blindness (13 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Night blindness) may include:

• Colored haloes around lights? - suggests cataracts.
• Distortion of vision? - e.g. seeing objects smaller or larger than actual - suggests macula degeneration.
• Diarrhea? - may suggest malabsorption and vitamin A deficiency as a cause of night blindness.
• Symptoms of Retinitis Pigmentosa? - e.g. increasing difficulties with night vision with concentric loss of peripheral visual fields. Central vision may be retained. Usually has a family history of the condition.
• Symptoms of Vitamin A deficiency? - e.g. night blindness is the earliest symptoms of vitamin A deficiency. Later symptoms include dry eyes, eye pain (due to ulcer formation) and blindness. May also have dryness of the skin.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Night blindness (13 listings)

Stories from Users for Night blindness

Real-life user stories relating to Night blindness:

• child's night blindness
• night blindness.
• child's night blindness
• Dimmed Vision, Photosensitivity, Night Blindness
• Night Blindness

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Night blindness or relevant symptoms:

• Eyes (218)
  • Sudden blackout in vision??
  • Halo around the streetlights, glaucoma or something else?
  • Flashers, floaters, and more
  • Seeing spots
  • Flashes of almost lightning type light with sound
  • More user stories

Videos for Night blindness

Patient Surveys for Night blindness

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about diseases related to your Night blindness
  Take Survey  View Results

Causes of Night blindness listed in Disease Database:

Other medical conditions listed in the Disease Database as possible causes of Night blindness as a symptom include:

• Bietti crystalline retinopathy
• Congenital stationary night blindness
• Fleck retina of Kandori
• Oguchi congenital night blindness
• Refsum's disease
• Retinitis pigmentosa
• Vitamin A deficiency
• X-linked cone-rod dystrophy

See full list of 67 causes of Night blindness
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Medications or substances causing Night blindness:

The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Night blindness as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Quinidine
• Cardioquin
• Quinaglute Dura-Tabs
• Quinalan
• Quinidex

See full list of 19 medications causing Night blindness

Definitions of Night blindness:

Night blindness: SYN: nyctalopia.
Source: Stedman's Medical Spellchecker, © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Nyctalopia; inability to see clearly in dim light.
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Inability to see clearly in dim light; due to a deficiency of vitamin A or to a retinal disorder
- (Source - WordNet 2.1)

Failure or imperfection of vision at night or in dim light, with good vision only on bright days.
- (Source - CRISP)

Night blindness is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Night blindness, or a subtype of Night blindness, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
- (Source - National Institute of Health)

Organs affected by Night blindness:

The list of organs typically affected by Night blindness may include, but is not limited to:

• Eyes

Detailed list of causes of Night blindness

The list below shows some of the causes of Night blindness mentioned in various sources:

• Ampola syndrome - night blindness
• Anophthalmia - megalocornea - cardiopathy - skeletal anomalies - night blindness
• Anophthalmia - short stature - obesity - night blindness
• Avitaminosis - night blindness
• Bietti crystalline retinopathy

See full list of 67 causes of Night blindness

How Common are these Causes of Night blindness?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Night blindness. Of the 67 causes of Night blindness that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

• 2 causes are "very common" diseases
• 2 causes are "common" diseases
• 1 causes are "uncommon" diseases
• 0 causes are "rare" diseases
• 3 causes are "very rare" diseases
• 63 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 67 causes of Night blindness

Conditions listing symptoms: Night blindness:

The following list of conditions have 'Night blindness' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

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Causes of Night blindness Based on Risk Factors

This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Night blindness based on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient: