Many conditions, lifestyle choices, medicines, and diseases interfere with your ability to heal or fight infection. You may be at risk for a more serious problem from your symptoms if you have any of the following. Be sure to tell your doctor.

Conditions

• Older than age 60
• Wear contact lenses, which increases the risk for eye infections
• Have another eye condition that increases the risk of vision loss, such as:
  • Glaucoma or macular degeneration
  • Retinal detachment
  • Poor vision or blindness in one eye with injury to the other eye
  • Cataracts
• Premature birth
• A problem or condition present since birth (congenital defect)
• Any eye surgery or procedure
• History of eye infections
• Family history of eye disease, such as glaucoma
• History of ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, such as excessive sunlight exposure or exposure to a welding torch
• Deficiency of thiamine, folic acid, or vitamin B12

Lifestyle choices

• Alcohol abuse or withdrawal
• Drug abuse or withdrawal
• Smoking or other tobacco use
• Travel to underdeveloped countries and tropical regions

Medicines

• Blood-thinning medicines, such as warfarin, heparin, and aspirin
• Corticosteroids, such as prednisone
• Medicines to prevent organ transplant rejection
• Medicines that may affect the eye itself
• Medicines used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
• Radiation therapy

Diseases

• Active shingles (herpes zoster) on the face
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Atrial fibrillation
• Cancer
• Chronic headaches
• Diabetes
• Giant cell arteritis
• Glaucoma
• Hemophilia
• Herpes infection
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA)
• Kidney disease
• Lupus
• Lyme disease
• Malnutrition or an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Reiter's syndrome
• Sickle cell disease
• Sjögren's syndrome
• Stroke
• Uveitis
• Wernicke's disease