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Signs & Symptoms of a Stroke to a Nerve

A stroke to the optic nerve often has symptoms that are similar to those associated with what is normally thought of as a stroke, but it is a vastly different medical condition. While nerve strokes cause weakness and loss of vision, they are actually the result of a disease attacking the nerve fibers, most typically the eyes. Patients older than 45 should pay close attention to their eyesight and see a doctor should any sudden loss in their vision field occur.

  1. Sudden Vision Loss

    • A stroke to the optic nerve is most common among the middle-aged and elderly (55-plus). It strikes quickly, with a sudden onset of blindness or blurred vision in one eye that will often progress to the second eye. It often causes poor circulation to the eye and optic nerve resulting in loss of vision field or tunnel vision in the most severe cases.

    Loss of Contrast Sensitivity

    • Loss of the eye's ability to detect subtle changes in color of shade is often associated with nerve stroke. Patients will have difficulty telling one shade of green from another, or simply lose color sensitivity all together. Amber filters or increasing amounts of light are often employed to combat this symptom.

    Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

    • One of two variants of a stroke to the optic nerve, Artertic AION as it is called, is the most dangerous form. It affects the front of the optic nerve, presenting with a pale/swollen optical disk with bleeding into the peripapillary area of the eye. If not treated, this form of the disease can be lethal.

    Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

    • A drop in blood pressure while sleeping is believed to be the root cause of the other variant of stroke to the optic nerve. Symptoms such as weakness and loss of visual acuity often do not appear in non-arteritic stroke as patients experience their vision loss upon first waking. It is believed that certain beta-blockers, designed to manage heart rate and blood pressure, may put a patient's pressure too low for ideal sleep levels, thus increasing the risk of the stroke's onset.

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