GLAUCOMA ,Early Detection and Prevention of Glaucoma

GLAUCOMA ,Early Detection and Prevention of Glaucoma.
Patients can be unaware of glaucoma’s presence until they lose their eyesight. Primary care physicians can play a critical role in circumventing vision loss.

Glaucoma encompasses a group of eye conditions that result in damage to the optic nerve. It’s the second most common cause of blindness in the United States. Glaucoma is incurable, and vision lost to glaucoma cannot be restored.

It’s estimated that more than 2.2 million Americans have glaucoma, but only about one-half of them are aware of it. Once vision is lost through glaucoma, it can’t be regained. However, further vision loss can be prevented. And fortunately, there’s more good news in the form of new treatments on the horizon. In fact, amazing advances in medicine have already been made. The key is getting more patients to visit their eye doctors and monitoring patients’ compliance with a treatment plan to protect their eyesight. Geriatricians and primary care physicians can play a critical role in this area.
Glaucoma is a condition of increased pressure within the eyeball that can damage the optic nerve and cause gradual vision loss. When intraocular pressure (IOP) becomes elevated, a patient is at a higher risk of developing the disease. But glaucoma is a complicated disease, and elevated IOP alone does not cause it. Other risk factors include a suspicious optic nerve as well as a genetic component.

In recent years, glaucoma research has made enormous strides, yet many Americans still experience significant vision loss or even blindness, largely due to noncompliance issues or a simple lack of prevention. According to the World Health Organization, glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world. It can strike anyone—from children to the elderly—though age does appear to be a risk factor. In addition, black Americans are six to eight times more likely to be diagnosed with glaucoma than white Americans.

Early Detection
The most common type of glaucoma is open-angle glaucoma, says L. Jay Katz, MD, director of glaucoma service at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia. “This is a very slow and insidious condition in which patients won’t be aware they have a problem because there are no recognizable symptoms until a significant amount of vision has already been lost,” he says. “It’s very important to catch these patients very early. How can we do that? The nonophthalmologist, such as the primary care physician, can play a critical role. They often look at the optic nerve as part of their routine exam. If the physician notices a difference between the two eyes or that the patient has what’s called a large ‘cup,’ then they should make sure the patient goes to see an eye doctor. It can truly be a matter of saving the patient’s vision.”