Saturday, January 11, 2014

[Optometry Student Share] What’s gradual, painless and dubbed the Silent Thief of Sight?

The answer is Glaucoma, an eye disease that gradually makes you lose your vision.  If you've been proactive in screening your health, you might as well surely have a really exceptional thought of certain health conditions that run in the crew.  for instance, mother has high cholesterol, father has diabetes and you recollect your grandma utilization eye drops for something.  Knowing your family eye history is exceptionally imperative in light of the fact that most eye diseases have a tendency to be hereditary.  Glaucoma, for instance, has a tendency to run on the mother's side of the crew.  If your mother has glaucoma, verify you tell your optometrist. 

What precisely is Glaucoma?  It's a disease where the optic nerve gradually decays as a consequence of poor blood stream and is regularly joined by high intraocular pressures.  The optic nerve is a heap of more diminutive nerve filaments, like a channel, which transmits electrical signs from the retina to the cerebrum.  In glaucoma, the littler nerve strands gradually crumble, bringing about a steady misfortune of vision.  The first territories of vision loss will happen in the periphery, off to the sides, which is extremely challenging to identify since we are not regularly attentive to our peripheral visual field.  If a patient encounters indications, the first indication may be poor night vision.  As the disease advances, vision loss inches in around the focal point of your visual field.  By the time you recognize that you are losing your peripheral vision and improving "tunnel vision," you will be in the late phases of glaucoma. 



The exceptional news is that glaucoma is the heading reason for PREVENTABLE blindness.  Routine eye examinations will permit an optometrist to discover glaucoma sooner.  There are a mixed bag of tests important to discover glaucoma, for example, a visual field screening, estimation of the intraocular pressures, and cautious assessment of the optic nerve to catch changes.  Many business settings now fuse retinal photographs into their normal examinations that are significant in recognizing numerous retinal diseases incorporating glaucoma.  Glaucoma is a diagnosis after some time, it is infrequently diagnosed on a first visit.  When change is caught in the structure of the optic nerve or in the thickness of its encompassing nerve layer over the long run, then glaucoma is diagnosed.  This is the place contrasting current retinal photographs with more seasoned ones are supportive in identifying little changes over the long run.  Another critical apparatus in the most recent not many years is the Optical Coherence Tomography, which measures infinitesimal layers of the retina to catch tiny progressions. 

So what happens when you do have glaucoma?  Treatment is frequently really basic.  There are a couple of distinctive manifestations of glaucoma.  The dominant part of them are treated with eye drops with measurements as meager as once a day.  The sedated eye drops bring down the intraocular  pressures in the eyes, which help to ease off the movement of glaucoma.  Some patients oblige laser medications to bring down their  pressures.  Most instances of glaucoma are reasonable and treatable if identified early. 

I generally tell my patients that the ages of 20s and 30s is for establishing a benchmark.  This is the place routine examinations and photographs are advantageous.  The ages of 40s and forward is for catching change and eye diseases, and treating early.  obviously, as with any viable diseases of the form, staying sound is key.  Those with diabetes have a much higher probability of improving glaucoma so hold your glucose under control.  Those of Asian, Latino and African drop have a higher inclination for improving glaucoma.  Having a high amount of nearsightedness likewise puts you at more amazing risk. 

The take home message is that glaucoma is treatable if caught early.  So know your family health history, stay sound and see your optometrist routinely for thorough eye examinations.
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