Glaucoma – Types, Symptoms, And Its Treatment

What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a situation that causes harm to your eye’s optic nerve and gets more intense eventually. It’s often associated with an accumulation of stress within the eye. Glaucoma tends to be inherited and may not appear until later in life, thus it is also said as “silent thief of sight”. The increased pressure in eye is known as intraocular pressure, which can harm your optic nerve, which function is to sends pictures to the brain. If harm to the optic nerve is from high eye pressure, then glaucoma can cause long complete loss of vision. Without treatment, glaucoma can cause complete loss of sight within a few years. Because most people with glaucoma do not experience early signs, symptoms or pain from this the pressure get increased in eye, thus it is very important to see eye physician consistently so that glaucoma can be clinically diagnosed and treated before long-term vision loss takes place. Globally, glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness after cataracts. If you are above 40 years and if you have a family history of glaucoma, then you should go for a complete eye exam with an eye physician every one to two years. If you have some certain health issues like diabetes or a genealogy of glaucoma or are at risk for other eye illnesses, you may need to check out your eye physician more frequently.

What Are the Types of Glaucoma?

There are two main types of glaucoma:
Open-angle glaucoma. Also known as wide-angle glaucoma, this is one of the most typical type of glaucoma. The structures of the eye seem normal, but liquid in the eye does not flow accurately through the drain of the eye, known as the trabecular meshwork.

Angle-closure glaucoma. Also known as acute or chronic angle-closure or narrow-angle glaucoma, this kind of glaucoma is less common but can cause an unexpected accumulation of stress in the eye. Drainage may be inadequate because the position between the iris and the cornea (where a drainage route for the eye is located) is so narrow.

Who Gets Glaucoma?
The problem of glaucoma mostly arises in adults over the age of 40, but it can also take place in teenagers, kids, and even infants. The research found that in African-Americans, the problem of glaucoma arises more regularly in at an earlier age.
You can experience glaucoma if you:

  • Are of African-American, Irish, Russian, Japanese, Hispanic, Inuit, or Scandinavian descent.
  • More than age of 40.
  • If family history of glaucoma.
  • If you have poor vision.
  • If you have diabetes.
  • If you take certain steroid medications, like prednisone.

What Are the Symptoms of Glaucoma?
For many people, there are generally few or no signs of glaucoma. The first indication of glaucoma is often the lack of side-line or part perspective, which can go unseen until delayed in the illness. Discovering glaucoma in early stage is one reason you should have a finish examination with an eye professional every one to two decades. Sometimes, intraocular stress can increase to serious stages. In these situations, unexpected eye discomfort, eye pain, frustration, blurry vision, or the overall look of halo around lighting may happen.
If you have any of symptoms, immediate go for medical care:

  • Seeing halos around lights
  • Vision loss
  • Redness in the eye
  • Eye that looks hazy (particularly in infants)
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Pain in the eye
  • Narrowing of vision (tunnel vision)

How Is Glaucoma Treated?
Glaucoma can be easily treated with eye drops, pills, laser surgery, traditional surgery or a combination of these methods. The goal of any therapy is to prevent lack of vision, as vision loss from glaucoma is permanent. Thankfully that glaucoma can be handled but only when detected early, and that with medical and/or surgical treatment.
Having medicines consistently, as per the recommendation is essential to avoiding vision-threatening loss. That is why it is essential for you to talk about adverse reactions with your physician. While every medication has some prospective adverse reactions, it is important that many sufferers face no adverse reactions at all. You and your physician need to operate as a group in order to fight towards glaucoma. Your physician has many choices. They include:

Eye Drops
It is important to take your medicines consistently and according to the given prescription in order to control your eye pressure. Since eye drops gets absorbed into the blood vessels,so it is essential for you to tell your physician about all medicines that you are currently taking . Ask your physician and/or pharmacologist if the medicines you are taken together are secure for health or not, as some medication can cause adverse effect if combined with other medicines. To reduce absorption into the blood vessels and increase the amount of medication absorbed in the eye, keep your eye close for about one to two minutes after applying the drops and press your index finger gently against the substandard nasal area of your eye lid to shut the tear duct which drains into the nasal area. While almost all eye drops may cause an unpleasant burning or biting feeling at first, the pain should last for only a couple of a few moments. There are many eye drops which are available in market like Bimatoprost and Brimoniodine Tartrate; both of these medications are effective in treating the problem of Glaucoma.

Pills
Sometimes, when eye drops treatment gets failed, the pills may be recommended instead of drops. These tablets, which have more endemic adverse reactions than drops, also provide to convert down the eye’s faucet and reduce the development of liquid. These medicines are usually taken from two to four times a day. It is important to discuss this information with all your other physicians so they can recommend medicines for you which will not cause very risky interactions.

Surgical Procedures
When medicines do not accomplish the preferred results, or have unbearable adverse reactions, your ophthalmologist may recommend surgery treatment.

Laser Surgery
Laser surgery treatment has become a well-known as an advanced phase between medication and conventional surgery treatment though the long-term achievements are varying. The most typical kind conducted for open-angle glaucoma is known as trabeculoplasty. This process requires between 10 and 15 minutes, is painless, and can be conducted in either a physician’s workplace or an out-patient service. You may go home and proceed your regular activities following surgery treatment.

Anton Lawrence
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Glaucoma – Types, Symptoms, And Its Treatment