This condition also is known as Leber’s Optic Atrophy (LOA), Leber’s Optic Neuropathy (LON), or Leber’s Disease.  It is a rare condition which can cause loss of central vision.  It usually affects men, most commonly in the late twenties or early thirties; but the symptoms can happen at any age, to men or to women.

Usually Leber’s affects one eye first, so central vision is lost in that eye over a period of a few weeks.  Usually one or two months later, the second eye is affected in the same way.

The time when someone is losing his/her eyesight is often called the “acute” period.  After a few more weeks, the eyesight stops getting worse.  Although this is the most common development of the disease, it also can affect someone very suddenly, or it can affect a person more gradually over a period of years.

Leber’s is a genetic condition, being passed down through a family.  Not all members in a family affected by Leber’s will lose their eyesight, and as yet there is no way to tell who will get symptoms and be affected.

Leber’s is inherited through a gene which is passed on only through the egg cell from the mother.  Men cannot pass on Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy to their children.