Glaucoma
The best way to prevent vision loss from glaucoma is early diagnosis and treatment. See your eyecare practitioner at least every two years for a complete examination. If you are at high risk for glaucoma, you may need more frequent visits to the eye doctor.
There are two main types of glaucoma and they are primary open angle glaucoma and narrow angle glaucoma.
Glaucoma symptoms are few and far between; it usually progresses undetected until there is irreversible damage to the optic nerve. Glaucoma causes generally come about due to a failure of the eye to maintain a balance between the amount of internal fluids produced and those that drain away.
Glaucoma treatment entails decreasing aqueous humor production, increasing fluid drainage or a combination of the two. These treatments will not restore vision that's already lost to glaucoma.
Glaucoma can be very destructive to your vision, and it is the second-leading cause of blindness in the U.S.
Generally the first stage of treatment is beta-blocker glaucoma eyedrops. These may not be used in people with heart conditions, because they can affect heart or lung function. Other pressure-lowering drops are alpha-2 agonists and prostaglandin analogs. Many glaucoma drops interact with common medications, so patients should discuss this with eye doctors as well as any other doctor they are seeing.
Most glaucoma can be controlled with drugs, but there are also surgeries. During a type of glaucoma surgery called trabeculoplasty, the doctor facilitates drainage by using a laser to create tiny holes where the cornea and iris meet. Another procedure called trabeculectomy creates an artificial drainage area. Another option is a drainage device, which the surgeon implants to improve fluid drainage.
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