Eye Health

How should glaucoma be managed? Glaucoma can be managed by following the treatment protocol specified in the Treatment section How often should a patient follow up After the initial examination and diagnosis, glaucoma patients are managed much like patients with other chronic disease, requiring regular visits to assess disease severity and response to therapy. Most patients will need periodic medical examinations, diagnostic testing for progression or new findings, and individualized management…

What are the treatments available The aim of treatment is to lower the intraocular pressure thereby preventing or reducing further damage to the optic nerve. However, in most situations it is not possible to reverse the optic nerve changes that have occurred. The methods available for glaucoma lowering intraocular pressure are : medical (usually eye drops), laser and surgical. Medical treatment - Medical therapy is the most common treatment modality for glaucoma. There are various eyedrops…

What does a complete glaucoma evaluation include? A comprehensive eye examination includes screening tests for glaucoma. A simple, painless procedure called tonometry measures the internal pressure of the eye. Intraocular pressure in most individuals ranges between 10 and 20 mmHg. A characteristic deterioration of the optic nerve associated with cupping and atrophy is common denominator to all forms of glaucoma (primary or secondary, open or closed angle, chronic or acute). Recognition of these…

What are different types of glaucoma? The clinical varieties of glaucoma are classified according to three parameters: Primary (idiopathic) or Secondary (associated with some other ocular or systemic conditions). The state of the anterior chamber angle: open angle (open access of the outflowing aqueous humor to trabecular meshwork) or closed angle (the trabecular meshwork is blocked by apposition of the peripheral iris). Chronicity: acute or chronic. The vast majority of glaucomas are primary…

What are signs and symptoms of glaucoma? Unfortunately there are usually no signs that you're developing glaucoma until vision loss occurs. It is often referred to as a “silent killer” as it does not manifest any symptoms until extensive peripheral visual loss becomes apparent in the final stages of the disease. Regular eye examination is essential to detect glaucoma. Your eye doctor can detect and treat high Intra Ocular Pressure(IOP) before it progresses to optic nerve damage and vision loss…

Is glaucoma curable? Can glaucoma be prevented Vision loss from glaucoma cannot be reversed. Routine eye exams are essential to discover glaucoma early and begin glaucoma treatment before significant vision loss has occurred. Regular eye examination after 40 years of age is an important preventive measure. This can be repeated every 3 to 4 years if there are no symptoms and every 1 – 2 years if a family member has glaucoma, if you have diabetes, if you are on long term systemic steroids for…

What is Glaucoma? Glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide is an eye disease in which the optic nerve is damaged, leading to permanent vision loss. Usually (but not always) the damage occurs when the eye's internal fluid pressure rises too high. It is often referred to as a “silent killer” as it does not manifest any symptoms until extensive peripheral visual loss becomes apparent in the final stages of the disease. Most varieties of glaucoma are chronic, virtually lifelong…

Am I at risk of developing glaucoma? Some of the risk factors for glaucoma are: Presence of glaucoma in other family members Increasing age – above 40 years Hypermetropia Thyroid disease Patients who are on long term steroid therapy for other diseases such as asthma, arthritis etc. Previous eye injury or surgery Hypermetropia (farsightedness) Damage due to glaucoma may be more severe in those patients who have associated diabetes, widely fluctuating blood pressure and myopia. Regular eye…

Information about Dry Eyes provided by Dr. Ankita Daftary, Opthalmologist, Mumbai What is dry eye disease: It is an extremely common and often unrecognised disease affecting millions of people. It is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance and tear film instability with potential damage to ocular surface. It is accompanied by increased osmolality of the tear film and inflammation of ocular surface. Dry eye disease is a…

Tear substitutes form the mainstay of treatment. They are aqueous solutions containing polymers that determine their viscosity, retention time and adhesion to ocular surface. They are cellulose derivatives like HPMC-hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and CMC-carboxymethycellulose, polyvinyl derivatives like polyvinyl alcohol, chondroitin sulfate and sodium hyluronate. Artificial tears provide improvement in symptoms of eye irritation, blurred vision and visual contrast sensitivity. However…