Hello friends of Steemit, Like all my post I also bring a medical problem, which is causing the loss in the vision to a high degree of people, the issue is a little complicated and maybe you have already heard. I hope everyone can understand it.
In most cases, glaucoma is associated with a higher than normal pressure inside the eye, a condition known as intraocular hypertension. However, it can also occur when the intraocular pressure (IOP) is at normal levels. Left untreated or controlled, glaucoma causes loss of peripheral vision in the first place and can lead to blindness.
According to estimates by the World Health Organization in the early 1990s, the number of people in the world with high intraocular pressure would be 105 million, new cases of glaucoma are identified at around 2.4 million per year and the number of blind people due to this disease is 8 million.
Okey, let's start.
How glaucoma starts
Glaucoma is an ocular disease that is generally characterized by the pathological increase of intraocular pressure due to the lack of drainage of aqueous humor and has as its final common condition an optic neuropathy characterized by the progressive loss of nerve nerve fibers. optical and changes in its appearance.
A little difficult to understand, here I explain it better this disease usually occurs when the fluid pressure inside the eyes slowly increases and damages the optic nerve. It is possible that at the beginning there are no symptoms. Without treatment, people with glaucoma will lose peripheral (lateral) vision. They feel they are looking through a tunnel. Over time, this tunnel vision (the visual field) can decrease and lead to blindness.
The optic nerve is made up of a million nerve fibers, which connect the retina to the brain. The retina is a tissue sensitive to light, located in the lower part of the eye. It is necessary to have a healthy optic nerve to have good vision.
Glaucoma has two very important characteristics
Chronic open-angle glaucoma
The iridocorneal angle is normal. The evolution is slow, there are no apparent symptoms but vision deteriorates progressively, so it has been called "The thief of sight"
This is the most common type of glaucoma. It occurs gradually, when the eye does not drain the fluid as well as it should (similar to a clogged drain). As a result, the pressure of the eye increases and begins to damage the optic nerve. This type of glaucoma is not painful and does not cause any change in vision at the beginning.
Some people may have optic nerves sensitive to normal eye pressure. This means that your risk of glaucoma is higher than normal. It is important to have frequent eye exams to detect early signs of damage to the optic .
Closed angle glaucoma
This type occurs when a person's iris is very close to the angle of drainage in the eye. The iris can block the drainage angle. This is similar to if a piece of paper was left over the drain covering the sink. When the drainage angle is completely blocked, the eye pressure increases rapidly. This is called acute attack. It is a true eye emergency and you should call the ophthalmologist immediately; otherwise, he could go blind.
These are the signs of an acute attack of angle-closure glaucoma:
- The vision suddenly becomes blurred
- You have severe pain in your eye
- Have a headache
- You have a stomachache (nausea)
- Vomits
- See colored rainbow rings or halos
- around the lights
Many people with angle-closure glaucoma develop it slowly. This is called chronic closed angle glaucoma. At first there are no symptoms, so they do not know they have it until the damage is serious or they suffer an attack.
What methods are used to detect glaucoma
To diagnose glaucoma, it is necessary to evaluate the ocular pressure, but this is not the only factor to be taken into account: the optic nerve should also be studied, both from an anatomical and functional point of view.
I will explain each of the most important diagnoses.
- Pachymetry: this test is used to measure the thickness of the cornea and in this way correct errors of measurement of the ocular pressure given by the resistance differences between thin corneas and thick corneas.
- Gonioscopy: measures the iridocorneal angle and allows classification of glaucoma in its two classic forms, open angle or closed angle.
- High resolution ultrasound: allows to study the structure of the eye, the anterior chamber, the ciliary processes and the papilla.
- Biomicroscopy: uses a fundamental instrument called slit lamp, which allows to see the greatly enlarged details of the eye and examine the fundus of the eye and the optic disc in three dimensions with the help of special lenses.
- Applanation tonometer: allows to take the ocular tension in millimeters of mercury. It is usually incorporated in the slit lamp. The tonometer most used worldwide is the Goldmann tonometer. There are tonometers that obviate the corneal thickness error factor. There is the Pascal Tonometer, which does not take into account the thickness of the cornea and in this way an intraocular pressure not affected by this parameter is obtained.Perimetry in glaucoma: its purpose is to check the amplitude of the visual field. In the beginning,
- Perimetry in glaucoma: its purpose is to check the amplitude of the visual field. In the beginning, perimetries with diagnostic intent are requested and very sensitive strategies and programs must be used. Subsequently, the perimetries are used with the intention of assessing the evolution of the disease. To do this, the test is performed at regular time intervals using highly reproducible strategies and the so-called progression programs.
Treatments
Patients with typical lesions of the optic nerve and campimetric defects compatible with glaucoma are treated irrespective of intraocular pressure. The reduction of intraocular pressure is the only clinically proven treatment. For chronic glaucomas in adults and children, intraocular pressure should be reduced by at least 20 to 40% from the previous values.
There are 3 methods available: drugs, laser surgery and conventional surgery. The type of glaucoma determines the appropriate method or methods. The drugs and most of the laser interventions (trabeculoplasty) modify the secretion of aqueous humor and its drainage. Traditional surgery operations (eg, protected filtering procedures [trabeculectomy] or drainage device implants [bypass tubes]) establish a new drainage path between the anterior chamber and the subconjunctival space. Newer incisional surgeries attempt to improve trabecular or uveoscleral outflow without creating a full thickness fistula.
Each of these procedures is very complex and extensive and I do not want to make a difficult post for the understanding as I had stressed before. so I will only explain the surgery that until now is the best and most used.
Both laser and traditional surgery are used to treat glaucoma. Laser trabeculoplasty is used to treat open-angle glaucoma. Argon or Nd: YAG is used in the laser that is applied to the trabecular meshwork to stimulate the opening of the ducts and thus increase the flow of the aqueous humor. Peripheral laser iridectomy is used in patients with angle-closure glaucoma. In it, the laser points to the iris to make an opening in it. This opens a new way by which the aqueous humor can pass from the posterior chamber to the anterior chamber.
Relevant information
There is no cure for glaucoma, but it can be controlled. Immediate treatment in the first stage can help protect vision loss.
Researchers from the United Kingdom found that the performance of sports activity seems to provide a long-term benefit, decreasing the incidence of low-pressure ocular perfusion (OPP), which is an important risk factor for glaucoma. OPP is a mathematical value that is calculated using the intraocular pressure of the eye and its systemic blood pressure.
The results showed that participants who had performed moderate physical activity for approximately 15 years before the study had a 25% lower risk of developing low OPP that could favor glaucoma.
"It appears that OPP is largely determined by the state of the cardiovascular system," said study author Paul J. Foster, MD, PhD, of the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London. "We can not comment on the cause, but there is definitely an association between a sedentary lifestyle and factors that increase the risk of developing glaucoma."
"Maintaining an active lifestyle seems to be effective in reducing the risk of developing glaucoma and many other serious health problems," concluded Dr. Foster.
In addition to exercising regularly and maintaining an active lifestyle, you can also reduce the risk of glaucoma by avoiding smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy and varied diet.
Good news ! They create a method to detect glaucoma through the blood.
Like all my post I bring a news that is in development and of interest.
Mexican scientists develop a blood test that can detect
The test is based on the search for proteins characteristic of the disease, said at a press conference Francisca Domínguez Dueñas, an academic at the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
"We take a blood sample and through proteomics we review the protein profile, in this way we can differentiate if there is an anomaly and correlate it with the clinic," explained Domínguez Dueñas, who is leading the research, Efe reported.
Here I leave where the information comes from
Conclusion
Glaucoma vision loss first affects the peripheral part of the field of vision. The loss of moderate or severe vision can be verified by the patient when testing his peripheral vision. This can be done by covering one of the eyes and examining the vision in the four corners of the visual field in terms of clarity and clarity, then the test is repeated with the other eye. Very often, the patient does not detect loss of vision until he suffers "tunnel vision". If the disease is not treated, the field of vision will be closed more and more, the central part will be darkened and finally it will degenerate into total blindness in the affected eye.
Glaucoma is a disease in which the sequelae are irreversible, therefore as first-level care physicians we have to be completely sure of the knowledge about the disease in order to help patients to have less impact on daily life since afterwards, if there are sequelae, the patient must be sent to therapies so that they can live with these sequels, as well as helping their family to understand the various pathologies that are going to derive from it, such as depression, as well as being a disease. It is estimated that about 70 million people have glaucoma, of which 10% suffer from bilateral blindness, it is important to refer them in time and know how to diagnose them.
Information reference
- https://medlineplus.gov/spanish/glaucoma.html
- http://www.msdmanuals.com/es-ve/professional/trastornos-oft%C3%A1lmicos/glaucoma/aspectos-generales-del-glaucoma
- https://www.aao.org/salud-ocular/enfermedades/que-es-la-glaucoma
- http://www.monografias.com/trabajos92/glaucoma-angulo-cerrado/glaucoma-angulo-cerrado2.shtml
- https://nei.nih.gov/health/espanol/glaucoma_paciente
- https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaucoma
- <>Eugenio Maul de la Puente: <>Glaucoma<>, Universidad Católica de Chile, 2002
- Gudmar Thorleifsson, et al. Common Sequence Variants in the LOXL1 Gene Confer Susceptibility to Exfoliation Glaucoma
- American Academy of ophthalmology: Glaucoma
- Dr. Mauricio Turati Acosta; www.glaucoma.org.mx
- muñoz-negrete fj1, pérez-lópez m2, won kim h-r2, rebolleda g1; new developments in glaucoma medical treatment; arch soc esp oftalmol 2009
Thank you for taking the time to read this publication. I hope you have a happy day, see you in the next. Do not forget to leave a comment about what you thought, thank you very much.@juanjdiaz89
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Great post! I was actually surprised that these many people are suffering from this ailment. 8 million blind due to high intraocular pressure!
I am glad that you liked the post, it is said that there are 8 million but in reality there are many more people, who suffers from this but do not realize it and will not do the corresponding exams. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Indeed, your view regarding glaucoma has overwhelmed me.I had alots of shortcomings in understanding glaucoma, but you have really made it very easy to understand..Thank you for your contribution.I want to share a curiosity regarding it that is upto what last possible stage if we diagnose glaucoma,the vision can be reverted back??
excellent post friend, very educational I had a doubt about Glaucoma but with your post you clarified it thank you @juanjdiaz89