January marks Glaucoma Awareness Month and it’s important to understand the best ways to diagnose, prevent, and treat this complex eye disease. With glaucoma, damage to the Optic Nerve results in visual field loss due to high intraocular pressure. Unfortunately, damage cannot be reversed. But with early diagnosis and treatment, vision loss can be slowed down or prevented altogether. Let’s dive into what you need to know about this condition.
What Is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is an eye disease that is characterized by damage to the optic nerve which causes progressive vision loss over time if left untreated. The primary cause of glaucoma is increased intraocular pressure (IOP). This pressure can be caused by several factors including genetics, age, medical history or certain eye injuries or diseases. Side vision (peripheral vision) is affected first in glaucoma and may go unnoticed until significant damage has occurred. If left untreated, central vision (reading, recognizing faces) will also be affected over time leading to complete blindness in some cases.
Who Is At Risk?
Anyone can develop glaucoma but there are certain risk factors that increase a person’s likelihood of being diagnosed with the disease such as family history of glaucoma or having diabetes, hypertension or other chronic illnesses that can impact eye health. Additionally, those over 60 years old are at an increased risk for developing glaucoma as well as African Americans who are more likely than Caucasians to develop the condition at a younger age and experience faster progression of their disease.
How Can It Be Diagnosed & Treated?
The best way to ensure early diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma is through regular comprehensive eye exams with your optometrist or ophthalmologist where they will evaluate your IOP levels through tonometry and assess your visual field through perimetry testing. If these tests indicate that you may have glaucoma then further diagnostic testing may be ordered. Treatment for glaucoma includes medications such as eyedrops, laser surgery or traditional surgery depending on the severity of your case. Your doctor will recommend the best course of action for you based on your individual needs and situation.
Glaucoma affects millions around the world each year so it’s important for everyone—especially those at higher risk—to get regular comprehensive eye exams from a qualified optometrist or ophthalmologist so that any signs of this potentially blinding condition can be identified early on and treated accordingly before significant vision loss occurs. By understanding our risks and getting regular check-ups we can all do our part in supporting Glaucoma Awareness Month!