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| Glaucoma | Glaucoma is a illness appeared as a result of increased intraocular pressure (IOP) caused from a malformation or malfunction of the eye’s drainage structures. Being untreated, a raised IOP leads to the damage of the optic nerve and retinal fibers with further loss of vision. Being early detected and treated; it may develop slower or even be stopped. The high eye’s intraocular pressure (IOP) is caused with the imbalance between the production and drainage of aqueous. Sometimes IOP falls between 8 and 21. Some people have a higher eyes’ pressure comparing with other people, it is quite normal. It is usually an insidious illness because there are no obvious symptoms of it. Angle closure and congenital have obvious symptoms.
There are such types of glaucoma as Open Angle, Acute Angle Closure, Secondary and Congenital Glaucoma.
Open angle (known also as chronic open angle or primary open angle) is the most widespread kind of glaucoma. Approximately 10% of the people suffer from it. This type of glaucoma is characterized with aqueous fluid builds within the anterior chamber and the raised IOP. Untreated open angle glaucoma can lead to permanent damage of the optic nerve and retina. IOP can be reduced with eye drops. Sometimes surgery is recommended when other measures are not helpful in the reduction of the IOP.
Acute angle closure appears because of an abnormality of the structures in the front of the eye. Mostly the space between the iris and cornea is narrower than it should be and a channel for the aqueous to pass through is small. The rappid raise of the IOP is caused with the complete blockage of aqueous’ that lead to a sudden angle closure attack. The symptoms of acute angle close glaucoma are strong eye pain, nausea, blurred vision, rainbows around lights, and a red eye. Other symptoms are rapid decrease of vision, severe eye pain, headache, vomiting, glare and light sensitivity.
This type of glaucoma is strongly recommended to be treated quickly. Being untreated it can lead to severe and permanent loss of vision that will happen quickly.
Secondary glaucoma appears as a result of another illness or problem within the eye such as: inflammation, trauma, previous surgery, diabetes, tumor, and some medications. In this case the illness and the underlying problem are strongly recommended to be treated.
Congenital glaucoma is very rare and is observed only in infants. Its symptoms are tearing, light sensitivity and enlargement of the cornea. Usually it is treated with surgery.
People who are older than 40 are recommended to have their eyes requently examined (once a year). The intraocular pressure should also be measured every year. People who suffer from glaucoma should be tested additionally. During testing the intraocular pressure is measured, the health of the optic nerve is evaluated (it is known as ophthalmoscopy), the peripheral vision is tested (it is known as visual field test), and the structures in the front of the eye with a special lens are examined (it is known as gonioscopy).
The health of the optic nerve is evaluated in the cup (the depressed area in the center of the nerve) to disc ratio (the entire diameter of the optic nerve). With the development of glaucoma the area of cupping or depression gets larger. The patient who has a higher ratio is more damaged.
The progression of glaucoma can be monitored with a visual field test. This test maps the peripheral vision, the extent of vision loss from glaucoma and a measure of the effectiveness of the treatment can also be determined. The intraocular pressure can be verified with frequently repeated visual field test. A special mirrored gonioscopy lens is used to see the structures in the front of the eye and to examine the anterior chamber and the eye’s drainage system. Glaucoma can also be diagnosed with the color Arden Screening Test necessary for observing the vision changes that appear before problems on the visual field test become obvious.
People who suffer from glaucoma and have high eye pressure may apply one or some medications to lessen the pressure. When medications are not helpful, surgery is advised. There are various surgical operations; some of them are peformed at home, some at hospital. The purpose of these operations is to let fluid to drain from the eye easier.
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