Glaucoma refers to a category of eye disorders oftenassociated with a dangerous buildup of internal eye pressure (intraocularpressure or IOP), which can damage the eye’s optic nerve that transmits visualinformation to the brain.
If left untreated, most types of glaucoma progress ( withoutwarning or obvious symptoms to the patient) towards gradually worsening visualdamage and may lead to blindness. Once incurred, visual damage is mostlyirreversible, and this has led to glaucoma being described as the “silentblinding disease” or the “sneak thief of sight”.
What are the risk factors for glaucoma?
Awareness and early Detection of glaucoma are extremelyimportant because this disease can be successfully treated when diagnosedearly. While everyone is at risk for glaucoma, certain people are at a muchhigher risk and need to be checked more frequently by their eye doctor. Themajor risk factors include:
Ageover 45 years
Familyhistory of glaucoma
Backracial ancestry
Diabetes
Historyof elevated intraocular pressure
Nearsightedness(high degree of myopia),
Historyof injury to the eye
Useof cortisone (steroids), either in the eye or systemically (orally or injected)
Symptoms
Glaucoma can develop in one or both eyes. The most commontype of glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma, has no symptoms at first. It causes nopain, and vision seems normal.
Without treatment, people with glaucoma will slowly losetheir peripheral, or side vision. They seem to be looking through a tunnel.Over time, straight-ahead vision may decrease until no vision remains.
What Tests Are Used For Diagnosis Of Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is detected through a comprehensive eye exam thatincludes
Visualacuity test
fundus examination,
Gonioscopy
Tonometry
Pachymetry
Visualfield testing
Opticalcoherence Imaging
Screening for Glaucoma
Routine screening eye examinations are mandatory sinceglaucoma usually causes no symptoms (asymptomatic) in its early stages. Oncedamage to the optic nerve has occurred, it cannot be reversed. Thus, in orderto preserve vision, glaucoma must be diagnosed early and followed regularly.
Glaucoma Treatment
Depending on the severity, treatment can involve glaucomasurgery, lasers, or medication. Eye drops with medication aimed at lowering IOPusually are tried first to control glaucoma.
There is no cure for glaucoma as yet, and vision loss isirreversible. however medication or surgery (traditional or laser) can halt orslow-down any further vision loss. Therefore early detection is essential tolimiting visual impairment and preventing the progression towards severe visualhandicap or blindness. Your eye-care professional can detect glaucoma in itsearly stages and advise you on the best course of action.
The author is Director Eye Care & Research Centre