Glaucoma: Regular eye checks only way to detect
View(s):By Dr. Madhuwanthi Dissanayake
With the world focusing on glaucoma during the Glaucoma Week from March 12-18, what needs to be reiterated is that proper treatment and monitoring can control this eye disease and prevent blindness.
As there are no definite symptoms, getting your eyes checked is the only way to detect glaucoma.
What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma is an eye disease affecting the optic nerve which is usually associated with increased eye pressure and progressive visual field defects.
It is the second commonest cause of blindness in the world, next to cataract. Currently about 60 million people suffer from glaucoma and if it is not treated properly it can lead to blindness.
What are the symptoms of glaucoma?
With the most common type of ‘open angle glaucoma’, usually no symptoms occur. With the progression of the disease, visual field defects start in the peripheral field. However, this may not be noticed by the patient as the central vision remains good. A few patients may also experience slight headache, tearing or difficulty in looking at light.
With the other type of ‘angle closure glaucoma’, the presentation is dramatic. There could be sudden onset of redness and severe pain in the eye with headache and vomiting. Visual blurring may also occur with extreme difficulty in looking at light. This is an ophthalmological emergency where the eye will become blind permanently in a short time if not treated.
Who can get glaucoma?
Anybody from a newborn to a senior citizen can get glaucoma. Babies can be born with glaucoma but the risk increases with old age. People with refractive errors (who need glasses to correct vision) and those with a family history (relations with glaucoma) are more at risk.
Angle closure glaucoma occurs more in elderly females and usually the sudden onset occurs during the evening.
How is glaucoma treated?
As there is no cure for glaucoma, early detection and treatment is the only way to prevent blindness from glaucoma.
After diagnosing the condition, glaucoma can be treated with the objective of minimizing further damage. The advancements in medicine and medical technology have led to promising results in the treatment and monitoring of glaucoma.
With a mere drop of medication into the eye once a day, eye pressure can be controlled in many patients. Reducing the production of fluid inside the eye, increasing the drainage of the fluid in the eye and protecting the nerve from pressure damage are some actions of the medicines. However, the patient may not feel any change to know whether the drug is working and as such needs to be checked periodically. Eye pressure checks, monitoring of visual fields and optic-nerve imaging would be needed.
If the progression of damage is continuing, the option of surgical intervention to create an additional pathway to drain the fluid in the eye may be considered. Another option is laser treatment to the eye.
(The writer is a Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo and President of the College of Ophthalmologists of Sri Lanka)