This is something PwMS get called Afferent Pupillary Defect. Could it be that Bowie was one of those lucky people who have no visible symptoms at all his life?
Afferent Pupillary Defect (APD) or Marcus-Gunn pupil is a condition of the eye where the pupil doesn’t dilate appropriately to the level of light reaching it. This will often result in one pupil appearing larger than the other (relative afferent pupillary defect - RAPD). This person with APD is often unaware of it except by looking in a mirror.
There are many causes of APD including Optic Neuritis (ON), glaucoma and optic nerve tumor. In multiple sclerosis, APD, is usually associated with damage to the optic nerve resulting from ON.
The reasons why afferent pupillary defect occurs with optic neuritis are complicated and involve the neuroanatomy of the visual pathways. Put simplistically, the eye in which the ON has occurred acts as if it is in a lower light situation than it really is and dilates more so that it can let more light hit the retina.
His eyes have always been “unusual”, to say the least.
But wasn’t it accounted for by a childhood accident of some kind?
I’m sorry, but I don’t believe for a minute it’s a sign he’s had a lifetime of undiagnosed MS. The abnormality is noticeable enough that it certainly would have been investigated if there was any doubt as to the cause. “Known injury” seems a very much more likely explanation.
Ggood nice spot! Is it the blue eye with a larger pupil? I think blue eyes are more light sensitive, this would maybe make that pupil slightly larger. I used to love Bowie, life on mars and all that the best. Don’t think he would have got this far with MS and kept it hidden from the media. Or showing other symptoms. Ppx
David Bowie’s eye was seriously injured in a fight at school. He was not blinded in that eye but his vision was seriously affected.
Apparently, his eyes are not different colours - ie the irises are the same colour but the pupil in the damaged one is permanently dilated. This is often called a “blown pupil”.
My late brother had the same problem (but not so acute) after being knocked over when he was about 8 and suffering serious head injuries. One eye looked very brown and the other quite green. He always used to day that his “odd” eyes were a bit of a babe-magnet!
i think he has iritis but im no expert. whatever it is hes a damned sexy chappie and i welcomed him into my bedroom last night with open arms, just as he was singing absolute beginners. ahhhh heaven…
i think he has iritis but im no expert. whatever it is hes a damned sexy chappie and i welcomed him into my bedroom last night with open arms, just as he was singing absolute beginners. ahhhh heaven…
x
[/quote] That made me giggle! He is in mine tonight tho! I will put on my red shoes, just a shame I can’t dace in them, but for Bowie I’d try! Ppx
My husband is a life long fan of Bowie and in all his books it states that in 1962 bowie had a fight with his best mate George. He got thumped in the eye and received hospital treatment although it meant his pupil was always dilated.
i think he has iritis but im no expert. whatever it is hes a damned sexy chappie and i welcomed him into my bedroom last night with open arms, just as he was singing absolute beginners. ahhhh heaven…
x
[/quote] That made me giggle! He is in mine tonight tho! I will put on my red shoes, just a shame I can’t dace in them, but for Bowie I’d try! Ppx[/quote] now polly, he told me he was washing his smalls tonight. huh! be careful in them red shoes i would hate you to trip up lol