With chronic diseases such as glaucoma, people should use their medications as frequently as recommended by their physician and I think more learning about glaucoma is needed to do as always.
Perhaps the
scariest thing about glaucoma is the fact that it exhibits no symptom: one day
your eyesight is just fine, the next day your vision is already blurred or
there are already black splotches off to the sides when you are looking
straight ahead. Even the culprit behind glaucoma—the build-up of pressure
inside the eye may develop slowly and painlessly, the person would not be able
to detect it.
And once symptoms are felt, it
may be already too late for the person.
This is because when excess
fluid pressure within the eyeball builds up to an abnormally high level, the optic nerve—the
fragile bundle of fibers at the back of the eye that carries
visual messages from the retina to the brain—gets so compressed to the point
that it will be permanently damaged.
Once this has occurred, the only thing that you and
your doctor can do is slow down if not halt the damage that glaucoma has
already caused. Once damage has occurred, it cannot be reversed.
Interestingly, glaucoma is the leading
cause of irreversible blindness in the Philippines, according to the Philippine
Glaucoma Society, an internationally
recognized leader in providing quality glaucoma care in the country through
education, exchange of ideas, research and publication.
With its vision, “That No Filipino will
ever go blind from glaucoma’’ the Philippine Glaucoma Society has teamed up
with Allergan to aggressively promote
awareness of the disease. Allergan is a global, technology-driven
multi-specialty health care company that pursues therapeutic advances in
various fields including the delivery of leading products that address
glaucoma.
According to the Philippine Glaucoma
Society, the only way to stop glaucoma in
its tracks is for one to have regular eye screening. Considering that there is
no single test to diagnose glaucoma, one has to undergo specific tests including the one that measures
the inner pressure via an instrument called a tonometer. The instrument touches
a very small portion of the eye and is usually painless. While a pressure exceeding the normal
range of between 10-21 millimeters of mercury—especially if it is higher than
21 mm of mercury—may not immediately cause glaucoma, such high reading should
be regarded as a significant risk factor.
Other tests that may be recommended include
ophthalmoscopy, which employs placing additional lenses in front of your eye to
visualize the optic nerve. The bright light may cause some glare and
discomfort. It may be necessary in some cases to dilate the pupils of the eye
with eyedrops to enhance the view of the optic nerve. If the pressure within
your eye is not normal or if your optic nerve looks unusual, then the doctor
may ask you to take a few more more tests: perimetry and gonioscopy; perimetry,
which is a test that maps out your overall field of vision (if glaucoma has
been diagnosed, then this test should be done at least twice a year to
determine changes in your vision); gonioscopy, which determines the status of
the drainage channels of the eye with the use of additional lenses; and
pachymetry, which measures the thickness of the cornea since it affects
measurements of eye pressure.
Once glaucoma is identified as the cause of the
sight problem, the treatment that follows are all aimed to preserve whatever
vision remains through the employment of regular eye drops, laser surgery or
even conventional eye surgery.
One should also remember that only a doctor,
preferably an ophthalmologist, can pinpoint exactly if it truly is glaucoma that
is ruining the eyesight. If an abnormally high eye pressure is detected, the
doctor will usually perform the additional tests outlined above to verify if
glaucoma is indeed present.
While most individuals may experience no symptom, a
few who were later diagnosed with glaucoma have previously complained of the
following: episodes of eye and head pain, blurred vision, redness, headache,
vomiting and seeing rainbows around lights.
But even without experiencing any symptoms, the fact
that one has a family history of glaucoma (especially parents or brothers and sisters) may merit
special vigilance. Having a high
reading of fluid pressure inside the eye, being aged over 45 years, a record of
previous eye injury, been a chronic steroid user, diabetic may predispose one
to developing glaucoma. Have your
eyes examined regularly.
