Early Glaucoma Detection Minimizes Long-Term Damage
Yearly screening that can lead to early detection of glaucoma can help prevent long-term damage to eye sight, ophthalmologists at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston advised.
"The biggest problem with glaucoma is that it’s a silent disease, a ‘sneak thief of sight’," said Dr. Silvia Orengo-Nania, professor of ophthalmology in the Baylor Eye Clinic at BCM. "You could have visual damage occurring over time and not know it. Once damage occurs, it is irreversible and you will not be able to get any vision back that you have lost. This is why screening early is critical."
Everyone over the age of 40 should have a yearly eye exam, Orengo-Nania said. "This is a full eye exam with dilation that looks at the optic nerve (the nerve between your eye and brain that transmits visions signals) and measures the intraocular pressure (the fluid pressure inside the eye)."
Symptoms
Glaucoma usually occurs when increased pressure in the eye slowly destroys the optic nerve, damaging your ability to see, Orengo-Nania said.
Glaucoma is roughly divided into two groups: open angle and closed angle. Open angle is the slow chronic form of the disease. Closed angle, seen less frequently, occurs suddenly and is painful, prompting patients and physicians to take quick action.
Approximately 2 million people in the United States are visually impaired by glaucoma. It is one of the leading causes of blindness.
"It slowly gets rid of peripheral vision (or side vision). Then it begins to affect the center vision," said Orengo-Nania. "The slow progression is how people miss the early warning signs and eventually become sight-impaired and possibly blind."
Nerve damage from glaucoma usually starts around age 40. By the time the decrease in vision affects quality of life, patients may be in their 60s, Orengo-Nania said.
Risks
"Glaucoma tends to be a much more blinding and aggressive disease in African Americans. It’s really important that this high risk group get screened and treated properly early on," said Orengo-Nania.
Other risk factors include family history, prolonged steroid use, injury to the eye or head and advanced age.
"The older you are, the greater your risk of developing glaucoma," said Orengo-Nania. "This is mostly a disease of the elderly, but it can affect all age groups."
Treatment
Treatment can help slow down, but not reverse impaired vision, Orengo-Nania said.
"The treatment goals are to lower the eye pressure, which will halt the progression of the disease," said Orengo-Nania. "There is no cure but you could slow it down so much that the disease outlives you, preventing further damage."
Ophthalmologists begin with eye drops to lower pressure, Orengo-Nania said. If the drops are not effective, ophthalmologists may choose surgery (laser or incision) as the next method of treatment.
Research
Orengo-Nania and colleagues at the Baylor Eye Clinic are committed to advancing glaucoma research programs.
"We are involved in a variety of clinical trials studying new medications for the treatment of glaucoma," said Orengo-Nania. "In the laboratory, we are looking at new ways to prevent nerve damage from occurring and new methods for checking loss of visual field in order to pick up progression early and change treatment more effectively."
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