According to specialists in Ophthalmology, glaucoma is a chronic disease caused by increased intraocular pressure. This popular pressure elevation can damage the optic nerve, and in severe cases, even lead to blindness.
Glaucoma: what is it and what causes it?
It is not really known why glaucoma occurs. It is considered to have a multifactorial origin that the damage occurs at the level of the trabecular meshwork, a structure located at the angle of the eye that drains the aqueous humor that we all have to maintain the ocular tone.
This rise in ocular tension can basically damage the optic nerve in two ways: by injuring the axons of the optic nerve or by producing a lack of irrigation of the optic nerve head.
When and how does glaucoma occur?
Glaucoma usually appears after the age of 45-50 years. In some cases, there may be a family history, and the problem is that in the initial stages the patient does not notice anything, which is why it is dangerous.
When the patient begins to notice discomfort such as loss of visual acuity or visual field, glaucoma is usually quite advanced and the defects that can be found in the optic nerve or in the visual field are quite affected.
What does glaucoma look like?
The idea that a patient with glaucoma sees “through shotgun barrels” is totally false. What really happens is that the patient has blurred vision or absolute loss of vision in some area of the visual field. This is very important in many aspects of daily activity, but especially in driving.
How glaucoma is detected
The diagnosis of glaucoma is based on several aspects. It is true that many patients have elevated eye pressure, but glaucoma does not always raise the pressure, there are patients with glaucoma who have normal eye pressure.
Glaucoma is detected by a set of tests: visual field evaluation, optical coherence tomography, or pachymetry, i.e., measuring the thickness of the cornea. The sum of all these diagnostic data allows the specialist to establish the diagnosis of glaucoma.
Why is it important to make an early diagnosis?
The earlier the damage is detected, the lesser the consequences will be. What the patient should know is that when glaucoma damage occurs, it is usually irreversible. Hence the importance of early diagnosis: the sooner we establish treatment, the sooner we can stop the disease.
Treatment of glaucoma
Glaucoma treatment is usually initially a medical treatment. Today there are numerous eye drops that can be prescribed to patients depending on the characteristics of the glaucoma they have.
When glaucoma does not respond to medical treatment with eye drops, there are other alternatives such as laser therapy. If there is no response to either of the two previous treatments, surgical treatment is the next step.
At present, there are also various surgical alternatives: trabiculectomies, non-perforating clerectomy, valve devices, drainage devices… These will also be indicated by the specialist depending on the characteristics of the patient’s eye and the type of glaucoma present.