Optic neuritis is an inflammation of the optic nerve. It is a disease that usually affects people between the ages of 30 and 40 at a rate of about 1.4 - 6.4 new cases per 100,000 population. There are typically three symptoms: loss of vision, dyschromatopsia and eye pain. The initial attack affects only one eye in about 70% of adults and both eyes in about 30% of patients. While the prognosis for visual recovery is usually good people who have had optical neuritis are at a high risk for developing multiple sclerosis, a risk which does not decrease over time. The rate at which people develop MS, while previously thought to be about 30% has now been shown to be possibly as high as 50%-60%.
Source: Google, The Digital Review of Ophthalmology (www.djo.harvard.edu)
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