Eye Clinic Tokyo has prepared content that will help you to understand various eye diseases.
This time, it’s about Glaucoma.
■Glaucoma
【Causes・Disease】
Glaucoma is the name given to a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve resulting in the loss of side vision (peripheral vision). High pressure in the eye is considered as one of its causes. Due to the increased pressure in the eye, optic nerve becomes damaged. As the damage to the optic nerve increases the patients vision decreases and may lead to blindness in the worst case.
Glaucoma is mainly divided into primary glaucoma, glaucoma in children and secondary glaucoma. Primary glaucoma can also be divided into open-angle glaucoma and acute angle-closure glaucoma.
It is said that the most common glaucoma in Japan is normal tension glaucoma. Normal tension glaucoma refers to glaucoma with normal intraocular pressure(10~21mmHg), which is classified as primary open-angle glaucoma. Epidemiological investigation shows that about 70% of Japanese glaucoma is normal tension glaucoma.
【symptoms】
The symptom of glaucoma is that the side vision gradually narrows. However, the progression is very slow, and rarely the symptoms of both eyes progress at the same time, so patients may not notice a change in vision until the condition is in its later stages.
【treatment】
Because the optic damage caused by glaucoma cannot be reversed, preventing the progression of the disease has become the goal of glaucoma treatment. Therefore, it is very important to recognize glaucoma and start proper treatment as soon as possible.
To prevent the progression, it is effective to control the intraocular pressure in a normal range.
Treatment options include prescription eye drops, laser treatment and surgery.
For open-angle glaucoma and normal tension glaucoma, treatment with prescription eye drops that lower the intraocular pressure is the first choice. Patients always start with one eye drop. If the effect is not good, they may be prescribed another eye drop or 2-3 eye drops in combination.
Laser treatment can also be performed If the prescription eye drops cannot lower the intraocular pressure to target ranges nor prevent the progression of glaucoma. The effect may not be maintained after the laser treatment or surgery which can lower the intraocular pressure, so there may require re-surgery.
For acute angle-closure glaucoma, if appropriate treatment is urgently needed due to the sharp rise of intraocular pressure, laser treatment is an option.
【summary】
Many forms of glaucoma have no warning signs. The effect is so gradual that may not be noticed, so it is important to have regular eye exams in eye clinics. Glaucoma can be prevented from getting worse if recognized early and treated properly. It is better to have a regular eye check-up at least once a year after the age of 40.