Imagine your life seeing the world as if it were in the middle of a constant blizzard. Open your eyes and let the landscape fill with dots of static, as when watching television up close: a permanent spider web that always accompanies you. Many people experience this disease and do not realize it until they talk to their doctor about this neurological condition.

This is what healthcare professionals call “visual profit.”

See the world with “interference”. A UK study estimates that visual snow conditions can affect up to 3% of the population. The US National Institutes of Health says there is currently no cure for this disease. The main symptom is small continuous spots in the patient’s vision that differ in color and severity from one person to another. “It’s like a huge layer of television interference covering my entire vision 24/7,” patient Paris Haigh said in this BBC article.

“I can see them even when I close my eyes,” he said. Other people have described it as a kind of pixelated image. Most of the time others are able to filter the points, but some days they find it more difficult than others.

How does it work? “It consists of the continuous vision of black and white dots in the entire visual field, which simulates vision through a granular filter or, as many patients refer to, the image of a television screen that is turned on but not connected to the antenna, also known as white noise,” explained San Francisco in Madrid. Carlos Clinical Hospital Research Institute, Dr. Enrique Santos Bueso.

Some things can make the flashing dots more noticeable. For many, this is caused by fatigue, anxiety and headaches, or when they are in very bright or dark environments. The use of cosmetic products can also cause problems. Some wear glasses with orange lenses while reading. While they help with visual snow, they don’t remove it.

Digital artist Zytomania created this image to show what his visual snow looks like.

Why does it appear? This condition is caused by a problem with the way the brain processes visual information. Professor Jon Stone, professor of neurology at the University of Edinburgh, has seen several patients with visual snow: “Normally, our brains are good at filtering out visual experiences we don’t want. Visual snow is probably because parts of the visual system in your brain are unhelpfully hyperactive. It’s a bit like tinnitus, but It stems from your view,” he explained.

We are actually at a very early stage. We weren’t even talking about it 15 years ago because no one agreed; visual snow was not even universally recognized as a ‘disorder’.

Some doubts. Peter Goadsby, Professor of Neurology at the Wellcome Trust National Institute of Health Research at King’s College, says both a 7-year-old man and a 70-year-old man have encountered this problem. And from all countries. They all describe it the same way. This led Goadsby to conclude that although it is activated in different ways, there must be a common underlying mechanism.

There is much to be understood, but one very important thing has already been accomplished: recognition. “We found that there is a specific structure in an area at the back of the brain that is more metabolically active and gets more blood flow in those suffering from visual snow. This may indicate that a part of the brain is not sufficiently inhibited “or too excited,” detailed.

hard to detect. According to the Visual Snow Initiative, a US charity dedicated to visual snow research, about 56% of people with this condition are misdiagnosed. For many, the process of getting a formal diagnosis was frustrating. Paris spoke to an ophthalmologist and a neurologist about the condition, but they felt they didn’t know what it was. “When experts don’t know what you’re talking about, it can feel like a made-up situation,” she said.

Some are shown a television with white noise, and almost all say, “Yeah, it looks like it!” she exclaims. And they’ve been like that all their lives.