Half of Indian Eyes Could be Suffering from Glaucoma

Glaucoma can be the worst nightmare for anyone as blindness could be no less than a curse which makes you to depend on others for completing ordinary routine tasks for the rest of your life. According to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), there are 12 million Indians suffering from the visual condition at present. Furthermore, you will be shocked to know that 50% of the population in India doesn’t even know that they have the condition. This is an eye-opener for all of us and demands to acquire satisfactory enlightenment about the eye condition.

glaucoma

Glaucoma

Accounting as the second leading reason for blindness, it is a complicated eye condition where the optic nerve is damaged followed by irreversible and progressive loss of vision. People over 40 years are generally affected with it.

Angle-closure glaucoma

Just as the drainage of a sink is covered, not allowing to drain out, angle-closure or closed angle glaucoma causes the outer part of the iris to get arranged or huddled over the eye’s drainage canals, thus blocking the fluids not to flow out. Unlike in open-angle glaucoma, the eye’s angle gets extremely narrow and abnormal as the iris bows too forward. The pupil expands too quickly or more than necessary. There is a sudden pressure caused on the eye, which could damage the person’s vision permanently.

glaucoma-open-and-closed-angle

It is the most common type of glaucoma where the drainage canals get clogged over a period of time. However, this clogging problem does not occur at the entrance of drainage canals, but much further inside them just as a clogged pipe below the sink. It also causes the incorrect measure of the eye’s fluid to flow out due to increased intraocular pressure (IOP) or inner eye pressure. This type of the condition usually responds well to medications; however, it may cause gradual vision loss if not treated on time. Most sufferers have no early warning symptoms.

Low-tension glaucoma

Open-angle glaucoma

With its cause still unknown, this is a type of glaucoma where the optic nerve is damaged even when the eye is not pressurized beyond the normal range, which is 12-22 mm Hg. This is different from other common types which usually involve raised eye pressure. People at high risk could be those with:

  • Japanese ancestry
  • Family history of normal pressure glaucoma
  • Irregular heart rhythm and other systematic heart diseases

glaucoma-low-tension

Childhood glaucoma

Also called as congenital glaucoma, it is a result of uncharacteristic intraocular fluid drainage due to malfunctioned or choked trabecular meshwork. It acquired its name as childhood glaucoma as it is diagnosed in early childhood. Nearly 1 out of 1,000 births are diagnosed with this type of the eye condition. Reasons could vary from unusual development during pregnancy to hereditary abnormality.

glaucoma-childhood-congenital

Neovascular glaucoma

It occurs when new blood vessels get abnormally formed over the drainage channels, making it difficult for the eye’s fluid to flow out via the trabecular meshwork. It’s a type of secondary open-angle glaucoma.

glaucoma-neovascular

Secondary glaucoma

It develops due to external conditions or other diseases such as advanced diabetes or cataract, eye tumor, inflammation, or injury, etc. resulting into damage to the optic nerve, eye pressure, and vision loss.

glaucoma-secondary

Pseudoexfoliative glaucoma

This is another type of secondary open-angle glaucoma where the eye’s drainage system is clogged due to flaky peels accumulated on the outer layer of the eye lens. This peel-like material collected disturbs the angle between the iris and cornea.

glaucoma-pseudoexfoliative

Iridocorneal Endothelial Syndrome (ICE)

Occurring in either of the eyes, it is a very rare type which is caused due to the spread of cornea cells over the iris’s surface and drainage tissue of the eye. Here, the drainage channels are further blocked as the iris gets bound to the cornea.

glaucoma-iridocorneal-endothelial-syndrome

Traumatic glaucoma

Caused due to blunt injuries to the eye or injuries that penetrate the eye, this type may be on the same lines as secondary open-angle glaucoma. Prior surgery, past injury, infection, and nearsightedness may make the eye susceptible to further serious injuries.

glaucoma-traumatic-glaucoma

Pigmentary glaucoma

This is another form of secondary open-angle glaucoma where minute pigment granules from the iris fall into the interior fluid of the eye causing a rise in the eye pressure.

glaucoma-pigmentary

Symptoms

For most people, the symptoms usually go unobserved, which is why the condition is also known as “sneak thief of vision”. It is advised to visit your eye specialist every 2 years with a view to diagnose glaucoma early, if present. The first signs usually show the loss of peripheral vision. However, sporadically, the intraocular pressure may increase to high levels which could result in sudden:

  • Headache
  • Presence of halos around lights
  • Eye pain
  • Blurry sight

Following are the common symptoms:

  • Pain inside the eye
  • Loss of vision
  • Vomiting
  • Nausea
  • Eye redness
  • Tunnel vision
  • Hazy eyes

glaucoma-symptoms

Treatment

Glaucoma can be treated with:

Microsurgery

For some people, the best alternative is glaucoma transplant as this type of surgery may be unsuccessful sometimes and required to be performed again. With a view to drain the eye fluid, a new channel is created – in a way eliminating the intraocular pressure. This kind of surgery is called trabeculectomy.

glaucoma-microsurgery

Laser surgery

It usually incorporates 3 types of operations namely:

  • Cyclophotocoagulation: Production of eye fluid is reduced by treating the middle layer of the eye using a laser beam
  • Trabeculoplasty: Here, the trabecular meshwork drainage is pulled open with the help of a laser
  • Iridotomy: For free flow of the eye fluid, a minuscule hole is made in the iris

Laser surgeries are quite helpful in treating angle-closure and open-angle glaucoma as they aid in removing fluid blockages and marginally increasing fluid outflow in respective conditions.

glaucoma-laser-surgery

Drugs

It is important that you inform the doctor about any ongoing treatments or medications as some glaucoma drugs could take a toll on your lungs and heart.

glaucoma-drugs

Eye drops

Although they have side effects like irritation in the eye, blurred vision, etc., eye drops could increase the eye fluid’s outflow and reduce the development of fluid in the eye’s front area.

glaucoma-drops

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