How to Adjust to Glaucoma?

Glaucoma can be defined as a group of disorders that lead to progressive optic nerve damage which later cause loss of nerve tissue resulting to vision loss.

Glaucoma is often linked to increased internal eye pressure (ocular hypertension). If glaucoma goes untreated, or uncontrolled, it first causes peripheral vision loss and later can cause full blindness.

Glaucoma Stats and Facts

      ·         Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness across the world. Glaucoma can cause blindness if it is left untreated. However, about 10% of glaucoma patients who receive proper treatment still lose their vision.

      ·         Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness (behind cataracts) across the globe.

      ·         Glaucoma has no cure and once vision is lost it cannot be regained. With surgery or medications further loss of vision can be halted. Glaucoma is a chronic condition which requires monitoring for life. Diagnosis for this condition is the first step to preserving your vision.

      ·         Almost everyone is at risk of developing glaucoma. Older people are at the highest risk but some factors such as eye injury, ethnicity and other medical conditions can increase your risk of getting glaucoma.

      ·         Glaucoma has no warning signs or symptoms. Increased eye pressure is accompanied by no pain and vision loss begins with side or peripheral vision.

      ·         More than 3 million Americans have glaucoma but only half of them know they have the condition.

      ·         More than 120,000 Americans are blind from glaucoma which accounts to 12 percent of all blindness cases.

      ·         African-Americans are 6 to 8 times more likely to develop glaucoma compared to Caucasians.

      ·         Blindness from glaucoma is 15 times more likely for African-Americans than Caucasians.

      ·         Open angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma accounting for 19% of all blindness cases in the United States.

      ·         There are over 60 million suspected cases of glaucoma worldwide.

Risk Factors of Glaucoma

Since chronic forms of glaucoma can destroy your vision before any warning signs or symptoms, you should know the following risk factors that may make you susceptible to this condition:

      ·         Advanced Age

Age is one of the major factors that put you at an increased risk of developing glaucoma, especially if you are 60 years old and above. Studies show that the elderly aged 80 years and above have 3 to 10 times the risk of developing this condition compared to individuals in their 40s. However, if you are African-American, the risk of glaucoma increases much earlier after the age of 40. If you fall within this class, you should begin going for yearly eye exams.

      ·         Family History

Your family history of glaucoma such as parent or child having the condition puts you at ahigher risk of developing the condition usually associated with family genetics. If your relatives or any member of your extended family has glaucoma, you may be susceptible to the condition. This means that your family line may carry some defective genes that make every member prone to glaucoma. 

      ·         Elevated Internal Eye Pressure

Internal eye pressure that is higher than normal can as well increase your risk of developing glaucoma. Though not all people who have elevated eye pressure develop the condition, studies show that most people with glaucoma have intraocular pressure (IOP) higher than 21 mm Hg. Most eye specialists define the range of normal IOP as between 10 and 21 mm Hg.

      ·         Ethnicity

As mentioned earlier, ethnicity is a glaucoma risk factor when you consider that African-Americans aged 40 years and above are among the highest risks group for developing the condition. On the other hand, Asians are prone to acute angle-closure glaucoma while Japanese people are prone to normal-tension glaucoma.

      ·         Medical Conditions

Some existing medical conditions have been linked to glaucoma. Such conditions include high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, migraine, and chronic allergy. 

      ·         Eye Injury or Surgery

Major eye injuries such as trauma, history of multiple eye surgeries for chronic eye conditions or sport injuries put you at higher risk of developing glaucoma. For example, blunt trauma can cause eye inflammation or affect the anatomy of the eye drainage system predisposing the patient to glaucoma development. Other eye injuries that can put you at increased risk of developing glaucoma include lens dislocation and detached retina.

      ·         Corticosteroid Use

Studies show that people who use corticosteroids for longer periods, especially those with long-term allergies have increased risk of developing secondary glaucoma.

Types of Glaucoma

Below are major types of glaucoma you should know:

      1.      Open-Angle

Open angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma seen in almost 90% of a glaucoma diagnosis. It develops slowly and without any tangible symptoms. This type of glaucoma occurs when the trabecular meshwork is blocked. Trabecular meshwork major function is to drain aqueous fluid from the front of the eye. If this fluid fails to drain, pressure is built on the eye, reducing vision slowly.

      2.      Angle-closure Glaucoma

This is the second common type of glaucoma from open angle. This form of glaucoma is caused by drainage problems linked to trabecular meshwork. It occurs when there is an angle or narrow space between the iris and the cornea. The contact of the trabecular meshwork and the iris traps fluid in the eye causing vision problems. This form of glaucoma may develop very quickly. 

Other forms of glaucoma include:

      3.      Congenital Glaucoma

This is a rare form of glaucoma which is present at birth. This occurs when a child has incomplete of malformed trabecular meshwork that may prevent fluid from draining from the eye.

      4.      Secondary Glaucoma

This is glaucoma that is caused by other body conditions such as eye injury, tumor, diabetes and infections. It occurs when the optic nerve is damaged because of the high intraocular pressure that may lead to loss of vision. It is diagnose as either angle-closure or open-angle glaucoma depending on what happens to the eye after the internal pressure is elevated. 

      5.      Pigmentary Glaucoma

This is a form of glaucoma that occurs when the actual eye pigments in the iris detach and move through aqueous humor. If the pigment embeds in the trabecular meshwork canals, it may clog the fluid draining leading to increased pressure in the eye.

      6.      IridoCorneal Endothelial Syndrome

This is a rare form of glaucoma that occurs when cells from the cornea grow over the drainage system blocking it. 

      7.      Pseudoexfolative Glaucoma

This is a form of glaucoma that occurs when cells are shed from the lens and get trapped in the drainage canals blocking them. It is considered a secondary type of glaucoma and is mainly found in patients with open-angle glaucoma.