Glaucoma is a progressive disease of the optic nerve that can lead to vision loss or permanent blindness. The optic nerve, present at the back of the eye carries our visual information from the eye to the brain where it is processed. In the early stages of glaucoma, there are often no visual symptoms. That’s why glaucoma is called as “the silent thief of sight”. Studies have shown that up to half of the nerve tissue needs to be damaged before changes are noted in one’s vision.
Unfortunately, once damage occurs, it is permanent. Thus, early detection is critical to preserving one’s vision. As a country of more than 1.2 billion, there are now expected to be about 11.27 million people with glaucoma. Majority of them do not know that they have glaucoma. Glaucoma is now the second leading cause of blindness globally, after cataracts. It is estimated that glaucoma will affect 79 million people worldwide by 2020.
Who is susceptible to Glaucoma?
There are certain people who are at risk for glaucoma, they are:
- Anyone who is above 40 years of age. The risk of developing glaucoma increases with age. Everyone over the age of 40 should have yearly eye exams to aid in detecting early signs of glaucoma.
- Any family member having glaucoma. Having a family history of glaucoma increases one’s risk of developing glaucoma
- History of injury to the eye – present and past trauma or a surgical intervention
- Long term steroid intake. One should be careful while using steroids (steroid skin creams, steroid eyedrops, oral and inhalational steroids like in asthma etc). Steroids should not be used without doctor’s prescription and self-medication should be strictly avoided.
- High refractive errors like myopia
- Certain oral medications can cause glaucoma
- Predisposing eye conditions like thin corneas, optic nerve sensitivity to eye pressure changes, eye inflammations can be at higher risk of developing glaucoma
- Ethnicity can also be a risk factor for developing glaucoma. Those of African American, Hispanic and Asian heritage all have an increased risk of developing glaucoma
- Glaucoma can be seen in newborns and in youngsters below 40 years. Any suspicious looking eye, corneal whiteness, large eyeball or long standing eye discomfort warrants eye examination
How to prevent/treat Glaucoma?
Glaucoma detection involves a visit to the eye care specialist doctor who will examine the eyes along with eye pressure checkup. Some tests will also be done to know the type and extent of glaucoma. The tests are painless and computer based which are easy to perform by the patient.
There are numerous treatment options for glaucoma ranging from medication, laser to surgical options. Diagnosing glaucoma early in the disease process allows for the most successful management of glaucoma. Ultimately, the treatment of glaucoma, involves lowering the pressure within the eye, thereby control the damage occurring to the end organ, optic nerve.
Glaucoma is usually asymptomatic and the patient will not have any complaints until it is advanced. But in one type of glaucoma (ACG), the patient has redness, pain and colored rings around light as symptoms which need to be treated early. During acute attacks of glaucoma, Yag laser is done to control the crisis and reduce eye pressures.
Selective laser trabeculoplasty is another type of laser used in open angle glaucoma to control eye pressure. This procedure can reduce the number of medications that a patient needs to use and also decrease the need to move on to more aggressive surgical procedures.
Once the glaucoma is detected, treatment usually begins with eye-drops and in some cases laser therapy is given. Regular application of eye drops and regular follow-ups is important to monitor the eye pressure and progress of glaucoma. If the condition is advanced, becomes uncontrolled and deteriorates, glaucoma surgery is needed in the form of glaucoma filtration surgery.
Since glaucoma is a silent thief of vision and vision loss is irreversible, it is all the more important for the public to have awareness about this disease and visit the nearest eye doctor for glaucoma checkup.
The doctors at Shekar eye hospital focus on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. They provide both medical and surgical management of glaucoma. If you have a question about glaucoma, the eye in general, or would like to schedule an examination, call us at our helpline.
Early detection is the key to successful management of glaucoma. When tackling the silent enemy of sight (Glaucoma), early detection, treatment and preventing from worsening in the key factor.
