In the world, approximately 66 million people suffer from some form of glaucoma, while 5 million of these people are completely blind. In third place among the causes of incurable blindness is glaucoma, the symptoms of which everyone should know. Because it is noticed, even among residents of developed countries, in which governments conduct educational activities aimed at combating this insidious disease, every second person with glaucoma does not even know about it.
What is glaucoma?
Remember how our vision works. The eye has a certain strength because its soft tissues, like a pumped balloon, are under some pressure. If intraocular pressure is increased , outflow of fluid passing through the trabecular network, which feeds the living tissues of the eye, is difficult or even blocked, open-angle glaucoma develops, accounting for almost 90% of all cases of this disease.
Increased IOP (intraocular pressure) in itself does not indicate glaucoma and can fluctuate depending on the amount of fluid drunk, heartbeat, body position, and even on the individual characteristics of the body. However, glaucoma may develop due to VKG, the symptoms of which are mainly associated with a decrease in peripheral vision.
Another form of glaucoma is angle-closure glaucoma or acute - this is a rare form of this disease, which is characterized by a sharp increase in IOP and causes a sharp pain in the eye. It is angle-closure glaucoma, the symptoms of which are expressed by vomiting, pain and blurring of the eye, that can cause complete loss of vision if the patient is not provided with medical care for several hours.
The third form of glaucoma - secondary glaucoma, often develops due to other diseases: eye injuries , cataracts, tumors.
Rare congenital glaucoma, its symptoms are found in newborns shortly after birth. In this case, photophobia or an increase in the entire eyeball of the child is observed.
Alarming Signs of Glaucoma
Ophthalmologists call glaucoma "an insidious vision-thief." Why? Even if you don’t feel any signs, don’t complain about your eyes, you may have already developed a dangerous form of glaucoma.
The ability of our brain to “draw up” the missing part of the image is the factor that prevents the early diagnosis of the disease. As a rule, glaucoma develops slowly and invisibly affects the optic nerve.
Predisposition to this disease
The likelihood of developing glaucoma increases if the following factors are present:
• Heredity
• myopia
• African descent
• diabetes
• eye injury
• Continuous use of cortisone or other steroids (ointments or aerosols for asthma)
• Age after 45 years
Glaucoma Prevention
If you find yourself in the above factors, then preventive measures are mandatory for you. Get an annual eye exam. Even if you are not at risk, check your doctor’s eyesight at least once every 4 years.
The doctor uses a device that will detect damage to the tissues of the optic nerve, changes in the vessels on the back of the eye. Perhaps a survey of the field of view will be conducted. In this case, the patient is invited to look at the concave hemisphere, which is illuminated by white light. A white bright dot appears inside the sphere. Seeing the point, the patient clicks on a special button. If he does not see this point, and it should be in his field of vision, then this may indicate that the person has glaucoma, the symptoms of which are expressed in the restriction of peripheral vision.
Treatment consists in the use of special drops and in surgical intervention.