Spinal Disc Decompression

GLAUCOMA

Timely detection of glaucoma is the key to treating the disease and preventing blindness. Steve Cohen doesn’t take for granted that he can drive, or even read.
“I just came for a routine eye exam and they detected what they thought could be the beginnings of glaucoma.”
In fact he did have it, at the age of 49!

“Glaucoma is a disease that affects people past the age of 40, and as the population ages we’re going to find an increase in prevalence in glaucoma,” says ophthalmologist, Dr. Cary Silverman. “The detection of glaucoma can ensure that the patient receives adequate and timely treatment.”
That’s exactly the point a new report in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal, the Lancet is trying to make. As the baby boomers age, many more individuals are at risk for glaucoma, making it important to develop highly efficient glaucoma detection methods.

The eyeball is filled with watery fluid made in this area. The fluid provides nutrients to the eye. The secretion is usually balanced by outflow of the fluid through drains, in a mechanism similar to pouring water into a tub that has an open drain. Glaucoma occurs when the drain is blocked. Fluid builds up in the eye and as a result, pressure also builds. That leads to damage to the optic, or seeing nerve and a subsequent loss of vision, and possibly blindness.

According to Dr. Silverman, “The early detection of glaucoma makes it possible to prevent the loss of vision but once that vision is lost, it’s irreversible.”
Glaucoma detection is done by testing for eye pressure.
“Generally a pressure over 25 can affect the optic nerve but sometimes people at lower pressures can be affected,” says Dr. Silverman.
But, there are newer strategies of glaucoma detection, like one which detects corneal thickness, which can help detect the condition earlier, and identify those especially at risk.
Steve already has signs of nerve damage that have limited his visual field. But simple eye drops which open up the drain have helped halt the disease progression.
“It means that for the rest of my life I have to be very diligent about taking this medication,” says Steve Cohen.
The report also says in the U.S., more than seven million office visits occur each year because of glaucoma, yet, many patients don’t even know they have the blinding condition. And timely glaucoma detection is the key to staving off complications.
For more information about glaucoma detection, click here:
http://www.glaucoma.org/

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