Glaucoma is one of the vision problems that are more often linked to people above the age of 60 years. It causes damage to the optic nerve and can get worse over time. Glaucoma is partly hereditary but is commonly associated with pressure build-up in the eyes, which damages the optic nerve.
Without the proper glaucoma treatment in New Jersey, glaucoma can easily lead to permanent loss of vision. What’s worse, glaucoma doesn’t show in its early stage, and patients don’t feel any pain. For prevention of glaucoma, people over the age of forty with a family history of glaucoma should regularly visit an eye doctor for an eye exam before a long-term vision problem occurs.
Types of Glaucoma
Glaucoma can be classified into four classes as detailed below:
1. Open-Angle Glaucoma
Eye doctors say that this is the most common glaucoma type. It is also called wide-angle glaucoma, and it occurs when the drainage canals of the eyes get blocked. The accumulation of fluid in the canals is what causes pressure build-up, which causes damage to the optic nerve, thereby causing glaucoma.
With the optic nerve damaged, information cannot be transmitted from the eye to the brain, which results in total blindness over time. With this type of glaucoma, there are no early signs and vision loss is usually gradual. Additionally, there is a substantial genetic disposition for this glaucoma type.
2. Angle-Closure Glaucoma
It is caused by the improper draining of the aqueous due to the closing of the drainage canal. In some cases, the drainage canal is so narrow that the aqueous cannot drain properly. This, in turn, causes the eye pressure to build up, which can be triggered further by the dilation of the pupil. This type of glaucoma can be detected through different symptoms in patients, including eye pain, blurred vision, headaches, and nausea.
3. Normal Tension Glaucoma
This type of glaucoma is also known as low-pressure glaucoma. It is caused by the damage of the optic nerve without necessarily having elevated pressure levels in the eye. Some of the risk factors associated with this vision problem include particular cardiovascular diseases, genetic hereditary of glaucoma, and Japanese ancestry.
Ways Of Helping Glaucoma Patients
Though glaucoma cannot be prevented, early detection is vital to controlling the vision problem. Eye doctors help glaucoma patients by either administering eye drops, recommending laser surgery or microsurgery, all to help reduce the pressure in the eye.
Eye Drops
These are essential in reducing fluid formation in a patient’s eye. Eye drops can alternatively help by increasing the outflow of the liquid in the eye, thereby reducing eye pressure.
Laser Surgery
This helps increase the fluid flow from the eye, especially for open-angle glaucoma patients. It also helps reduce fluid blockage for angle-closure glaucoma patients. Laser surgery procedures include trabeculoplasty, iridotomy, and cyclophotocoagulation.
Microsurgery
This is a surgical procedure that involves the creation of a new channel to drain the fluid to ease the eye pressure. It might also involve the placement of an implant tube to help drain the fluid. All this is done to facilitate fluid drainage and reduce eye pressure.
Glaucoma is one of the vision problems associated with the old. Though there is no way to prevent this disorder, early detection goes a long way in controlling it. Patients suffering from any of the 3 types of glaucoma can use eye drops or undergo laser surgery to help reduce eye pressure.
