Glaucoma San Antonio Patients Fight To Preserve Vision
Loss of vision changes every single aspect of life. In past centuries, people who lost their eyesight and had no safety net often ended up begging in order to survive. While that rarely happens today, eye diseases like glaucoma still exact a harsh personal penalty, and can result in blindness if not found and treated in time. Glaucoma San Antonio sufferers combat this optic nerve issue using education and advances in technology.
Glaucoma commonly attacks both eyes, and is characterized by ever-increasing liquid pressure within those orbs. Fluids regularly drain under normal circumstances, which allows internal pressure to remain balanced. If that natural process is blocked, internal forces slowly build, often causing permanent damage to nearby ocular structures, including the optic nerve. The two most common types are called open and closed angle.
Victims may not be aware of a developing problem because the symptoms of open angle glaucoma have a gradual onset. Over time, nerve damage results in a loss of peripheral vision that may go unnoticed for years. In the later stages, all vision is affected, and restricted to a narrow, tunnel-like space directly in front. The closed-angle variety causes more immediate problems, and has more noticeable symptoms.
These include blurred vision accompanied by eye pain, which may be severe enough to cause nausea and vomiting. Lights appear to have surrounding auras, and adjusting to different illumination levels becomes difficult. Risk of developing the disease increases with age, and can also affected by ethnic background, previous eye surgery, and the presence of certain other illnesses.
Early diagnosis is the key to successful long-term treatment. Most eye examinations include standard pressure tests which can immediately reveal higher-than-normal pressure levels. Gonioscopy is an additional procedure helpful in determining the extent of blockage of the angle from cornea to iris. Lateral vision loss is detected by perimetry testing, and additional medical tools can determine the amount of damage to the optic nerve itself.
If problems are discovered during an exam, treatment usually begins as soon as possible. As of yet there is no total cure for this type of complex eye degeneration, but progress can be slowed or even halted. While existing destruction is irreversible, there are significantly helpful eye drops that contain effective drugs, including beta blockers, fluid inhibitors, prostaglandin analogues, and chemicals that stimulate liquid flow.
In cases that do no respond to eye drops, surgery may be the best option. Drainage passages can be effectively unblocked using lasers, while other patients show progress when treated with filters that help relieve internal eye pressure. In some cases aqueous shunt implants are installed. A victim of acute-angle glaucoma is treated as an emergency requiring immediate drug therapy and surgery.
San Antonio TX sufferers know the vital role eye examinations and early detection play in combating this second leading cause of blindness. Because the disease can progress even without symptoms, only an eye specialist can determine whether there is potential trouble. Technological improvements in equipment make an early diagnosis painless and relatively simple, giving doctors better ways to preserve vision longer.
Glaucoma commonly attacks both eyes, and is characterized by ever-increasing liquid pressure within those orbs. Fluids regularly drain under normal circumstances, which allows internal pressure to remain balanced. If that natural process is blocked, internal forces slowly build, often causing permanent damage to nearby ocular structures, including the optic nerve. The two most common types are called open and closed angle.
Victims may not be aware of a developing problem because the symptoms of open angle glaucoma have a gradual onset. Over time, nerve damage results in a loss of peripheral vision that may go unnoticed for years. In the later stages, all vision is affected, and restricted to a narrow, tunnel-like space directly in front. The closed-angle variety causes more immediate problems, and has more noticeable symptoms.
These include blurred vision accompanied by eye pain, which may be severe enough to cause nausea and vomiting. Lights appear to have surrounding auras, and adjusting to different illumination levels becomes difficult. Risk of developing the disease increases with age, and can also affected by ethnic background, previous eye surgery, and the presence of certain other illnesses.
Early diagnosis is the key to successful long-term treatment. Most eye examinations include standard pressure tests which can immediately reveal higher-than-normal pressure levels. Gonioscopy is an additional procedure helpful in determining the extent of blockage of the angle from cornea to iris. Lateral vision loss is detected by perimetry testing, and additional medical tools can determine the amount of damage to the optic nerve itself.
If problems are discovered during an exam, treatment usually begins as soon as possible. As of yet there is no total cure for this type of complex eye degeneration, but progress can be slowed or even halted. While existing destruction is irreversible, there are significantly helpful eye drops that contain effective drugs, including beta blockers, fluid inhibitors, prostaglandin analogues, and chemicals that stimulate liquid flow.
In cases that do no respond to eye drops, surgery may be the best option. Drainage passages can be effectively unblocked using lasers, while other patients show progress when treated with filters that help relieve internal eye pressure. In some cases aqueous shunt implants are installed. A victim of acute-angle glaucoma is treated as an emergency requiring immediate drug therapy and surgery.
San Antonio TX sufferers know the vital role eye examinations and early detection play in combating this second leading cause of blindness. Because the disease can progress even without symptoms, only an eye specialist can determine whether there is potential trouble. Technological improvements in equipment make an early diagnosis painless and relatively simple, giving doctors better ways to preserve vision longer.
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posted by sahab @ 5:06 PM
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