Osmosis video - Sensory system: Eye and ear disorders

The eye and ear are two important components of the sensory system, and disorders affecting these organs can have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life. Eye diseases can be caused by infections, like conjunctivitis; uncontrolled diabetes, like diabetic retinopathy and cataracts; or simply due to aging, like presbyopia and macular degeneration. There are also refractive errors in the eye, which include myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism.

Ear diseases can also be caused by infections, like otitis externa and otitis media. There is also hearing loss that can either be conductive, which is when sound waves are not transmitted properly to the inner ear, like in cerumen impaction and otosclerosis; or sensorineural, which occurs when there's a problem in hearing receptors or nerves in the inner ear or brain. Other ear disorders include Meniere's disease, a disorder of the inner ear that causes vertigo, hearing loss, and tinnitus; and cerumen impaction, which occurs when cerumen builds up in the ear canal and makes it difficult to hear.