4 Facts You Should Know About Glaucoma
Around 4 million Americans have a disease slowly progressing within their eyes that could eventually rob them of their sight. What’s even worse: A significant number of these individuals don’t even suspect something’s wrong.
The disease is glaucoma, a chronic condition in which the eye’s normal fluid pressure remains abnormally high. The constant high pressure can eventually damage the eye’s optic nerve, causing significant visual impairment or even blindness.
As of now, the damage caused by glaucoma is irreversible. On the more hopeful side, however, an array of effective treatments and procedures can slow or even stop the disease’s progression.
The key, of course, is awareness: The more you know about glaucoma—about the disease itself, your own potential risks, and how to manage it—the less likely you’ll encounter serious visual disabilities down the road.
During January’s Glaucoma Awareness Month, Hattiesburg Eye Clinic wants you to know these 4 important facts about this vision-robbing eye disease.
Glaucoma Is a Leading Cause of Blindness
The term “blindness” simply means a significant loss of vision that can’t be corrected with glasses or contacts. It can occur in varying degrees, from an inability to make out gross detail to total darkness. Whatever the degree, blindness can severely limit a person’s activities and opportunities in life.
Besides injury, there are four major eye diseases that account for most cases of blindness: diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. Of these, glaucoma ranks second overall (behind cataracts), but first among patients over 60.
Most patients have open-angle glaucoma in which pressure builds up gradually over time and symptoms appear slowly. Although a second type called acute angle closure is rarer, it’s more dire: If the eye’s narrow drainage outlet (known as the angle) becomes blocked, eye pressure can increase rapidly, possibly causing permanent vision loss or blindness within hours or days if not treated immediately.
Some Groups Are at Higher Risk Than Others
It’s possible for anyone to develop glaucoma. That said, though, some categories of people have a higher risk than others.
People over 60 in general have a greater chance of developing glaucoma than younger ages. African Americans (especially over 40) have a higher incidence than other racial groups. The risk for glaucoma is also higher among those with inflammatory diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure.
One other group also tends to track higher with cases of glaucoma—those with immediate or generational relatives who have had the disease. If you have a family history of glaucoma, or if you fall into one of these other high-risk groups, you should be on the alert to your own potential for the disease.
Glaucoma Can Be Effectively Managed
There’s little that can be done to restore visual loss caused by glaucoma. However, there are a number of effective treatments that can slow or even stop the disease’s progression and possibly deter visual impairment later in life.
The primary treatment strategy is to consistently keep eye pressure within normal ranges over the long-term. For most patients that requires the application of daily medicinal eyedrops. For some patients a more convenient way is to have a tiny implant placed in the eyes that gradually releases the medication incrementally over several months or years.
Should eye drops become problematic or ineffective, there are other interventions that can help lower eye pressure. These include surgical procedures like trabeculectomy or minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries (MIGS), or devices like shunts or stents to improve drainage of excess fluid.
Successful Management Depends on Early Detection
Which of these and other treatments an eye doctor may employ will largely depend on the individual patient’s needs, circumstances and disease progression. Ultimately, though, the success of any form of glaucoma treatment depends on one thing: how soon a patient is diagnosed with the disease.
Optimally, this means detecting signs of glaucoma as early as possible, and before any optical damage occurs. Fortunately, eye pressure is easily measured during either a routine exam or a simple screening. Findings of high pressure might then call for “watchful waiting” through subsequent exams or something more interventional like eye drops or other means.
The question, though, is when. Generally, doctors recommend regular exams, which includes checking eye pressure, for anyone over 40. But if you fall into a high-risk category for glaucoma, you should have your pressure tested every one to two years beginning in late adolescence or early adulthood.
Hattiesburg Eye Clinic Ophthalmologist Adam Quinn is the regions only Full-Time, Fellowship-Trained Glaucoma Specialist. To learn more about glaucoma and its treatment options, be sure to visit our website. To find out how Hattiesburg Eye Clinic can improve your vision health, call 601-268-5910 (or toll-free 800-624-8254) or schedule a consultation with us at www.hattiesburgeyeclinic.com/contact-us/
