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Glaucoma, also known as the silent thief of sight, is a leading cause of preventable blindness. The most common forms of glaucoma primarily affect the middle-aged and the elderly, byt glaucoma does not discriminate and can affect people of all ages.

Glaucoma is an eye disease that causes vision loss by damaging a part of the eye called the optic nerve. This nerve is responsible for sending images from your eyes to your brain. However, when glaucoma damages your optic nerve, those images are distorted and vision becomes impaired and restricted. If not treated, glaucoma can cause permanent blindness.

According to Glaucoma Research Foundation, it is estimated that 3 million Americans have glaucoma but only half of those know they even have it. There are typically no symptoms to alert you to this disease, and sadly once vision is lost, it is irreversible.

The most common form of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma, which is one of the main causes of blindness in the United States. In the early stages of primary open-angle glaucoma, there are no symptoms. Its important for people to know that glaucoma can be detected early even before noticeable vision loss occurs.

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to prevent glaucoma. However, you can slow down the progression of this disease by getting an annual dilated eye exam and receiving treatment if required. In addition to your dilated exam, your ophthalmologist might also perform a series of other painless tests such as eye pressure measurement and a peripheral vision test. These tests, in addition to an examination by your physician, assess any changes in your vision and evaluate the overall health of your eyes. This will help your physician determine if you have an issue like glaucoma and allows them to develop the best course of treatment based on their findings.

If you are diagnosed with glaucoma early enough, glaucoma can often be controlled with eye drops. If you are prescribed medication for your glaucoma, it is important that you take this medication regularly and exactly as prescribed in order to control your eye pressure. If you have allergies to eye drops or the drops fail to lower your eye pressure substantially, a laser procedure or even eye surgery may be recommended.

The laser procedure, known as selective laser trabeculoplasty or SLT, helps to open the drain inside of the eye and can lower the pressure in more than 80 percent of patients.

If required, your doctor may recommend glaucoma surgery to lower your eye pressure. This involves making an incision in the eye to create a new drain for the eye and therefore reduce eye pressure. The type and severity of your glaucoma, as well as the overall health of your eye, will help your ophthalmologist determine the type of surgery that is best for you.

Glaucoma is most common among older people and in African Americans. If you are over 60 years old, you are six times more likely to get glaucoma. Another factor that contributes to the prevalence of glaucoma is having an immediate family with glaucoma (mother, father, sister, brother). This puts you at a much higher risk. Finally, glaucoma may occur immediately after an eye injury or even years later.

Glaucoma is a very serious eye disease that can lead to vision loss and blindness if not carefully monitored. While glaucoma is not curable and vision that has been lost cannot be regained, it is treatable. With the appropriate medication and/or surgery, it is very possible to slow down the disease process and prevent further vision loss. As with any disease, annual comprehensive exams are key to protecting and maintaining healthy vision.

David Hayes, DO, is a glaucoma specialist with Clay Eye Physicians & Surgeons. He is also a member of the Duval County Medical Society.

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Doctors are In: Glaucoma is treatable if detected early - Florida Times-Union

This entry was posted on June 21, 2017 at 2:45 am and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |