5 Interesting facts about blindness

Blindness is the state of not being able to see anything at all, may it be images or even light. It may also refer to a lack of vision that cannot be fixed by either the use of glasses or contact lens. Blindness may be brought or rather caused by various things and reasons which may include; accidents, suffering from diabetes, and some other eye problems. It can occur at once or over some time. It can be either partial or complete. That is, if you are partially blind, you can see some light; images appear blurred like shadows, and one can’t see the shapes.

 

5 Interesting facts about blindness

1. Nearly half of all blindness is preventable

To begin with, blindness that has been caused by diabetes or by any other eye disease can be prevented if detected early. This can be done through regular eye checkups and screenings that help to treat the diseases while there is a chance for treatment. Besides, doing the above mentioned will prevent early blindness and especially the permanent one.

2. Blindness can also be caused by smoking

The common causes of blindness that are widely known may include; diabetes, traumatic injuries, infections of the retina or the cornea and macular degeneration, and many more. However, smoking as a cause of blindness is a very interesting fact since it’s not that common. Still, research has shown that it’s as a result of smoking that the age-related macular degeneration condition causes a problem to the retina. This condition is evident for causing blindness mostly in older people, and unfortunately, it’s not treatable.

3. Japanese beer cans have braille writing on the top

Unlike other manufacturers in the world, it’s only in Japan where they have made lives of the blind easier by ensuring that the top of the beer cans is stamped the word bear or alcohol in braille. This stamping has helped the blind not to buy the beers, thinking it’s a soda. This idea came up not only because they could pick the can unknowingly but because some people are affected when they drink the beer, and it brings the unnecessary discomfort that could have been avoided.

4. Blind people have more nightmares than people with normal sight

Studies done on this have shown that the experiences people have during the day or emotions they have while they are awake are equivalent to the nightmares they have at night. People who have their normal sights have easy times during the day compared to the blind who experience dangerous situations, some of which are even threatening. A good example of the nightmares they have may include a person having a nightmare of being run over by a moving car.

5. Braille was created first as a way for Napoleon’s spies to read documents

First and foremost, braille is a system used by blind people to read; they use it for reading and writing. It was first created by a military veteran who served under Napoleon’s army, who noticed that using lamp lights got many of his fellow soldiers killed. The enemies were attracted by this light and therefore ambushed the soldiers. To help out with the problem, Charles Barbier decided to come up with a night writing system that the soldiers used to read during the night without the use of lights that would sell off their locations. This system was made up of a 12 dot cell, which was two dots wide and six dots tall.