He suffered what experts call “retinopathy of prematurity”, which is explained as “a condition in which the growth of the eyes is aborted and causes the retina to detach” owing to the premature nature of his birth.                                                            

Several shores away, in Nigeria, musician, songwriter and producer Cobhams Asuquo is another blind musician doing some marvel in the world of music. He was born blind.

Talented Asuquo, who trained as a lawyer, spoke of his predilection for music from cradle: “As a six-year-old, I would play the blues and whistle, a piano would always excite me as well. So, music has always been a part of me.”

And just like Stevie Wonder, he is not someone to be miffed because of his visual impairment.

It is quite disturbing that father and son suffer the same fate: blindness. A truckload of questions will certainly be asked as regards what could be responsible for such and if blindness is actually hereditary.

Experts speak

Dr Oluwafunmike Ani, an ophthalmologist and eye care specialist, said: “Blindness is a condition that prevents someone from being able to see. There are many factors responsible for blindness. Some of them are congenital, while some are acquired.

“Some forms of blindness are not preventable, because they are hereditary, but not all are hereditary. This means that a person can inherit the causes due to the fact that there might have been an inherited gene in the chromosome of that person. Also, infections can lead to chromosomal or genetic abnormality which in turn causes blindness as the baby develops in the womb environment. There are a group of conditions responsible for blindness: congenital cataract, that type of blindness is treatable, there is congenital glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, Down Syndrome, which can have cause full and incurable blindness as well as albinism which could result in full or partial blindness.

“A child can be born blind after the foetal formation in the womb, and after the cells multiply, things go awry in that womb environment or in the blood cells or amniotic fluid. And when there is an abnormality as the baby develops, it can lead to a damage or modification on the way the eyes grow such that the baby suffers eye diseases which in most cases have blinding impact.”

Dr Ani disclosed that apart from retinitis pigmentosa and albinism, there are several other uncommon chromosomal abnormalities that could lead to child blindness. In all these conditions, there some specific genes that is abnormal. The genes might have been normal before morphing to abnormal, and at that point where a father or mother carries those genes, the offspring is certainly going to pick from either parent. The genes are autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant; sex-linked (that is, the abnormal gene is linked with a female or male sex type). Thus, genes can be transferred from parents to their offspring, and diseases too can be transferred genetically.

“Also, it is possible for parents who are blind to have children who are sighted. There are many couples like that whose children are not blind.

“In all these situations of blindness in relation to genetics, the advancement of technology has brought about a sort of relief. It has become easy for those who have the means to go for screening. This involves locating certain unwanted and unacceptable genes in an unborn baby. Once such genes are detected, the baby is removed from the womb and the gene is corrected.

“For instance, it happened before, when a baby was discovered to have had a congenital anomaly in the womb. A surgery was performed on the baby to correct the abnormality before actual delivery. So, technology has proved to be crucial as efforts continue to increase to reduce the incidence of genetic diseases even before a baby is born,” Ani said.

Dr. Obomon Taiwo, a Lagos-based optometrist, blamed ignorance for the prevalence of blindness. She said: “Blindness is affecting so many people these days and most of those cases are preventable but proliferates due to ignorance and other factors.

“When it is debated if blindness is hereditary or not, it is important to look at the causes, first of all. Some kinds of blindness are hereditary, while others are not. For instance, someone who is affected with glaucoma should ensure his family members go for regular check-up because glaucoma is hereditary and as such, a child infected with it can be born blind.

“On the other hand, blindness caused by cataract is not hereditary because cataract is not hereditary. Fortunately, this kind of blindness is reversible by surgery.

“There are other factors that can make blindness hereditary apart from glaucoma. For example, retinitis pigmentosa is hereditary and can lead to full blindness. Also, diabetic retinopathy can cause blindness indirectly because diabetes is also hereditary and if not properly managed can affect the eyes. Thus, if the health of a child is not properly attended to and such becomes diabetic, there is every tendency to be blind.

“Matter of fact, blindness cannot be hereditary, but its causal factors are. For example, someone who had an accident and his eyes were affected and became blind due to inadequate care cannot have blind children because the cause of such blindness is accidental and not natural or hereditary.

“There are many causes of blindness which are preventable. For every eye condition, the key to ensuring proper functioning of the eyes is regular check-up. Even for those suffering glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa and the likes, early detection is essential. When these causative factors are detected early enough, then they can be properly managed, or in some cases totally cured to avoid blindness.

“For child whose parents have glaucoma, he or she will also be affected and if not properly treated, he can go blind. Sadly, glaucoma is difficult to detect at a tender age. It is quite possible for complications during pregnancy to lead to blindness, especially if, for instance, the eye chamber of a baby is not well formed.

“Child blindness can be as a result of inherited causative factors from parents and other un-inherited factors. But when a child is born, there should be proper and immediate eye test, and a yearly eye examination is quite important for all.”

Former Medical Guild Chairman, Dr Biyi Kufo, an ophthalmologist, said: “Blindness can be hereditary, but there are many types of blindness that are not hereditary.

A number of diseases which can lead to blindness, such as glaucoma, have a strong hereditary component, so can run in families.

It is possible for children to be born blind if they are infected with cataracts; being born with cataracts will result in blindness, which can be reversed if properly managed.

There are other conditions, such as diseases which affect the child before birth. Most of these are contracted by the mother and passed on to the unborn child.

Many abnormalities in development of the eye of a baby would also lead to blindness.

Though genetics can play a role in blindness in childhood; that a parent is blind, does not mean that they will have blind children.

Dr Priscilla Imade, an optometrist, said: “Blindness itself is not hereditary but problems or diseases or conditions leading to blindness can be inherited. If Cobhams was born blind, we need to know the correct history of the causal factors of his blindness; we also need a medical report on that. God never created anybody to be blind or deformed but certain causal factors either in pregnancy or during foetal development may be responsible.

“But if they are detected and treated early, perhaps the prognosis will be better and blindness can be avoided. If a child is born blind, from birth the paediatrician will know because it is recommended by the National Optometrists Association (NOA)  that eye test should be done at birth, six months,  one year, three years and then after as the child moves from class to class. I am not sure Cobhams’ son was born in Nigeria. So I want to assume that the paediatrician examined him for light reflexes at birth which is an indication of sight.”

University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Consultant Ophthalmologist Prof Feyiyemi Adepoju noted that blindness can be hereditary or acquired (non-hereditary). Above a third of blindness in children at birth may be hereditary.

source: Nationonline