Glaucoma without proper treatment can lead to blindness
Written by:Glaucoma is a chronic disease of the optic nerve that, without proper treatment, can progress insidiously and lead to blindness. It usually occurs when the intraocular pressure is higher than the eye can support, which causes a reduction in lateral vision. This symptom can go unnoticed, and when this happens, the patient does not usually recognize the disease until it is not at a very advanced level.
There are two types of glaucoma: open angle , which is asymptomatic and the most frequent; or narrow angle or closed. In the event of a sudden closure, causes a rise in pressure with severe pain, loss of vision and even nausea and vomiting. The patient must undergo, urgently, treatment, if he manifests these symptoms.
Glaucoma, as well as its main symptoms, usually appears in people over 40 years of age and with high intraocular pressure , although it can also manifest with normal pressures in sensitive eyes. The risk factors of glaucoma are many and varied, although the most common are ocular hypertension or myopia.
The surgery does not allow to recover the lost vision
Although it is true that surgery reduces intraocular pressure to stop optic nerve damage, it does not allow the patient to recover the vision that glaucoma has caused him to lose.. When the first symptoms appear and the disease manifests itself in a mild phase , the most frequent treatment is by eye drops of hypotensive. On the contrary, if this is more serious, the patient must undergo surgical procedures such as laser , trabeculectomy or sclerectomy .
Despite the hopeless data, with the measures of early diagnosis and hypotensive treatment, the incidence of blindness has practically decreased by half in the last 30 years. For this reason, it is necessary to carry out a periodic medical monitoring throughout life.
