Study links uveitis with rheumatic disease

This is according to new Finnish research published on the medical web site ivanhoe.com involving 174 patients. Their main cause of visual impairment was uveitis, the condition characterised by specific types of eye infections and inflammations. Researchers found 22 per cent of uveitis patients had suffered from inflammatory rheumatic disease. The report claims doctors do not know the cause of most cases of uveitis. Visual complications of uveitis include cataract and glaucoma the Finland-based research team said. Uveitis causes an estimated 5 per cent of cases of blindness in Western Countries, with some cases genetically linked. For instance Finns are more likely to suffer than other Europeans. The study, which appeared in the latest issue of The Journal of Rheumatology, also claims that infectious agents, such as herpes viruses, can also cause uveitis. 'This study provides the first data on the relative importance of inflammatory rheumatic diseases, leading to visual handicap and blindness,' said the researchers.