Glaucoma Nuts & Bolts
Courtesy Advanced Eye Care, Denton LIVING WELL Magazine
Glaucoma is an eye disease that slowly and painlessly steals away your sight. Glaucoma is called the silent thief of sight because it has no symptoms—it does not make your eyes red or cause pain, but it is the second leading cause of blindness in the U.S. Half of the people who have glaucoma are unaware they have the disease and are going blind.
The cause of glaucoma is unknown, but there are several risk factors that increase your risk of developing glaucoma. These include high eye pressure (called intraocular pressure, or IOP), older age, being African-American or Hispanic, and having a family history of glaucoma. Anyone with any of these risk factors should get regular eye examinations.
Glaucoma damages vision by destroying the optic nerve, which connects your eye to your brain, and carries visual information to your brain for processing. When the optic nerve is damaged you lose your vision. Your peripheral vision—or side vision—is lost first. If the glaucoma remains untreated, the vision loss creeps toward the center, first causing tunnel vision, and then, blindness.
The eye is filled with clear fluid that flows in through a spigot and flows out through a drain. In glaucoma, the drain of the eye gets plugged, and fluid coming into the eye cannot get out, raising the IOP.
A thorough examination for glaucoma should include both the measurement of IOP and a careful examination of the optic nerve. If the IOP is high or the optic nerve looks damaged, a special test called a visual field test should be performed to test for signs of visual loss.
The goal of glaucoma treatment is to lower IOP and stop the optic nerve damage. Several kinds of treatment are available. These include eye drops, laser therapy, and surgery. Eye drop medications lower IOP by either reducing the amount of fluid entering the eye or increasing the amount of fluid exiting the eye. Laser therapy is often used when medications fail to successfully lower IOP or for patients who cannot tolerate the medication side effects. Recent advances in laser therapy have produced lasers so safe and effective that laser therapy is used instead of medications. If both medications and/or laser therapy fail surgery is available to lower IOP.
Your ophthalmologist will work to develop a treatment plan that will safely lower your intraocular pressure and attempt to prevent blindness from glaucoma.
Schedule your appointment with Advanced Eye Care Center by calling 940-382-8000 today.
