Glaucoma is eye
disease, responsible for causing the damage to the optic nerve of the eye, cause vision
loss.
Detailed, Glaucoma is another major defect in the eye by which the optic nerve(cranial nerve) will get damaged
which ultimately leads to vision loss and becoming worse with time.
Glaucoma is not a single
disease but it is a combined result of the group of diseases.
Optic
Nerve present in the black part (usually black) i.e in the pupil of our
eye, their function is to transmit visual information(brightness, color,
contrast) from the retina to our brain, Let's Understand Glaucoma with a Diagram
Glaucoma Diagram
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| Glaucoma
Credit to:- National Eye Institute
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Types of Glaucoma
1. Open-angle Glaucoma.
2. Acute angle-closure glaucoma.
3. Normal-tension Glaucoma.
In medical terms, open-angle glaucoma is also
known as wide-angle Glaucoma.
Open-angle Glaucoma
The angle at which iris and cornea meet in the normal eye become
wide or open in case of open-angle Glaucoma, which causes clogging with the time that creates internal pressure on the eye leading to damage of the optic nerve
of the eye and due to this there is no visual information transmission between
retina and brain which simply means permanent vision loss. This is the most common type of Glaucoma that was seen frequently.
Acute angle Glaucoma
This is another type of Glaucoma that was found. It is different
from open-angle Glaucoma. In acute angle Glaucoma, the pressure inside the
eye suddenly increases or to be precise intraocular pressure(IOP). The main
cause of this type is non-proper drainage of eye fluid which maybe occur in
hours or in a short span of time than open-angle Glaucoma, which makes it
completely different.
There are some other types of Glaucoma which are a combination of
open eye Glaucoma and acute angle Glaucoma.
Causes of Glaucoma
1. The cause for primary (open-angle) Glaucoma is
still not known to experts. But there are certain conditions that are known to
be causing secondary (acute angle) Glaucoma.
2. Old age is one leading factor.
3. It can be caused if a person is suffering from an illness like- diabetes, tumors.
4. Eye injuries or an advanced cataract.
5. Eye surgery.
Symptoms of Glaucoma
1. In the case of an open angle Glaucoma, as it
occurs with time gradual vision loss and stress, and feeling of the
heavy eye are its symptoms. But there are several signs/symptoms for
detecting acute angle Glaucoma.
2. Sudden Blurred vision.
3. Severe eye pain.
4. Unusual Redness in the eye.
5. Headache ( on the same
side of affected eye) - As the visual information transmission between the
retina and the brain is with the help of the optic nerve also it connects our
eye with our brain and in the case of glaucoma this optic nerve is damaged hence we
feel a headache which is somewhat different from a normal headache in the affected side of the eye.
6. Nausea(strange feeling of sickness or a feeling
of uneasiness).
7. Vomiting.
If anytime these symptoms are there then it may be an acute angle
Glaucoma in such cases doesn't wait for a second and hurry for medical help.
Prevention of Glaucoma
1. Glaucoma cannot be prevented, but if it is found
in an early stage then treatment can help prevent it from getting worse and
worse with time.
2. There are several
measures that everyone should adopt to reduce the risk of Glaucoma.
3. Regular exercise ( As it
improves blood circulation in the body including the eyes).
4. Healthy diet.
5. Regularly follow
our eye care tips.
Treatment of Glaucoma
Mechanisms For lowering eye pressure:
There are mainly two types of Primary methods
that usually used
1. The first method is to decrease the amount of aqueous humor that
coming into the eye i.e. reduce the production of aqueous.
2. The second method increases the amount of
aqueous that leaving the eye i.e. increases the outflow of aqueous.
Some medications decrease the production of
aqueous humor whereas others increase the outflow. Aqueous humor flows out of
the eye using two pathways:
(i) one that is sensitive to
eye pressure (the trabecular meshwork pathway).
(ii) one that operates independently of eye pressure
(the uveoscleral pathway).
From all of the available choices, a reasonable initial approach
would be to choose an eyedrop that will get the eye pressure as low as safely
possible in each particular patient. The choice of the initial agent is guided
by the patient's characteristics and associated medical conditions.
The guiding principle is to avoid known side effects issues
while maintaining the convenience of once a day administration to maximize
compliance. The initial eyedrop could be Timoptic, Xalatan, or Alphagan.
Each patient must then be monitored routinely to ensure that IOP
is maintained at a level low enough to prevent glaucomatous progression. If
additional eye pressure lowering is required then it is best to add an eyedrop
with a different mechanism of action than the initial drug. For example, if the
initial eye drop used is Xalatan which works by increasing uveoscleral
output, then the second eyedrop could be Timoptic or Trusopt which works by
decreasing aqueous humor production. We discuss below the key points in
considering the drug treatment. We have used brand-names because of general
familiarity with the names, although several drugs are available in equally
effective and cost-effective generic forms.
