REFUGEE

Sight tests have revealed Gordon Brown has two minor tears on the retina in his good right eye.

Downing Street announced the condition yesterday in a bid to clear up speculation over the Prime Minister's health but said he would not need to undergo further operations.

Mr Brown lost the sight in his left eye after he was kicked in the head playing rugby as a 16-year-old. A spokesman said check-ups over the summer and yesterday showed there had been no more deterioration in his vision.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown listens to a speech by Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls at the Labour Party Conference, at the Brighton Centre, Brighton, Sussex.

The spokesman said: 'This summer Mr Brown had his annual eye check-up which was fine. Later he had his retina checked.

'After examinations surgeons found that the retina had two minor tears. However, as there has been no further deterioration, and no change in his eye sight, they decided against further operations.

'Yesterday Mr Brown visited Moorfields Hospital as part of regular checks on his eyes and this check was also fine.

Gordpn Brown lost the sight in his right eye after an accident in a rugby match at school

'Mr Brown wants to thank the doctors and staff of the NHS particularly Moorfields Hospital. Were there to be any change, he would of course make a further statement.'

The spokesman added the condition did not affect Mr Brown's ability to do his job in any way.

He said the news had been released today for reasons of transparency.

Mr Brown discussed his eyesight in an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr ahead of the Labour Party Conference at the end of last month.

He described losing the sight of one eye in a boyhood rugby injury.

'I then had exactly the same thing happen in my second eye. I had the same retinal detachment. I had the same fear that therefore I might lose my sight in that eye.

'I had to have a very big operation to deal with that and every year, of course, I have to check - as I did only a few days ago - that my eyesight is good.

'There has been absolutely no deterioration in my eyesight. I think people should be absolutely clear that although I had problems with my eyes and it has been very difficult over the years, I think people understand that you can do a job and you can work hard.

'I think it would be a terrible indictment of a political system if people thought because you had this medical condition, you couldn't do a job.'

During the interview, on BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show on September 27, Mr Brown was also forced to deny rumours he was dependent on prescription painkillers.

Some unconfirmed media reports had suggested Mr Brown might use concerns about his health as a reason for stepping down as prime minister ahead of the election.

Mr Brown insisted he had no medical problems which might get in the way of him continuing to serve as prime minister.

BBC journalist Andrew Marr questioned Gordon Brown about his health in an interview ahead of the Labour Party Conference

So what do tears to the retina mean?

Tears in the retina are not uncommon and affect up to 3% of adults over 40 in the UK, an expert said today.

Som Prasad, a consultant ophthalmologist at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, said tears in the retina, the light sensitive tissue layer at the back of the eye, occur when the jelly-like vitreous humour peels off with age.

He compared the process to peeling off wallpaper which tears when it suddenly becomes stuck.

Mr Prasad said: "With age and time, the vitreous often breaks up and as it breaks up it peels off the retina.

"It usually comes off normally, but occasionally it causes a tear.

"It's like peeling off wallpaper."

Mr Prasad said this could eventually lead to retina detachment, where the retina separates from the underlying inner wall of the eye.

If the retina peels off completely it will not work properly and the picture becomes patchy or may be lost completely, he said.

According to the website of Moorfields Eye Hospital, where Prime Minister Gordon Brown went for his check-up yesterday, a tear or hole in the retina can be treated in a number of ways to seal the retina around the tear and prevent it from peeling off.

This can either by done with laser treatment, a procedure likened to spot welding, where the tear is heat-sealed by directing a laser beam of light through the pupil of the eye to produce a scar which seals the tear.

An alternative would be cryotherapy treatment, where a freezing treatment is applied by a pen-shaped probe to the outside of the eye.

This freezes through to the retinal hole and, as with laser treatment, promotes scar tissue as a seal, the hospital said.

The procedures may be "a little uncomfortable but not painful, and are usually performed under a local anaesthetic as an outpatient", the hospital said.

But if the retina becomes detached - as has happened to Mr Brown twice before - "more complicated operations" may also be needed to prevent the loss of sight.