Glaucoma is said to be a quiet vision thief. Forestall it with regular check-ups at an ophthalmologist.
How many times have you heard glaucoma or high blood pressure?
Probably as often as high blood pressure or high blood sugar. When you think about it, the word glaucoma does not impress you enough to go to the ophthalmologist. Because one cannot die from such a disease. However, life in the dark for many means the end of an active and quality times or at least it’s what many think.
Glaucoma is optic nerve disease that can lead to permanent vision loss. Every year, 5.5 million new cases of disease are recorded in the world. Glaucoma is considered to be the first cause of blindness when it comes to optic nerve diseases.
And all it takes are just a few little steps so the word “glaucoma” doesn’t scare you so much.
What to do?
First, try to find out if someone in your family was or is treated of said disease (mother, father, brother or maybe sister). Because elevated intraocular pressure can be inherited just like any other disease. If you have received confirmation, make sure to do the check-up in the glaucoma detection and treatment cabinet. It's painless and can benefit you a lot.
Regular check-ups will make your fear of possible permanent vision loss disappear:
- If you are over 40, have a general ophthalmic examination because an increased risk of intraocular pressure problems comes with this age.
- If you are a diabetic, be careful as well. The aforementioned basic disease may be accompanied with glaucoma. So, listen to your diabetologist and follow his instructions.
- If the thyroid gland is weaker, i.e. if you have hypothyroidism, visit the ophthalmologist occasionally as it may lead to glaucoma.
- If you are taking high corticosteroids dosage over a longer period of time for some reason, intraocular pressure control is necessary. These medications can increase the ocular pressure.
These are some of the situations where you need to be careful. Glaucoma is said to be a quiet vision thief. And you, dear readers, you be the good cops. Forestall it, imprison and condemn it to a life sentence. How will you do that? The answer is simple and easy: regular check-ups at the ophthalmologist.
If you are in the risk group, we recommend it once a year, and others after 40 years of age every two to four years. And do not forget. Just measuring the intraocular pressure is not enough. Although elevated intraocular pressure is considered to be the major risk factor for glaucoma, there may be visible visual impairments of the optic nerve and accompanying issues in visual field. On the other hand, any intraocular pressure increase does not have to mean that a person has glaucoma.
Glaucoma diagnosis with unavoidable intraocular pressure measurement includes a detailed ophthalmic examination with visual acuity check, ocular angle examination, corneal thickness measurement, ocular background examination (including optic nerve and macula), visual nerve capture by optical coherence tomography and visual field computer examination.
Dr. Morena Gavrić, glaucoma subspecialist
Probably as often as high blood pressure or high blood sugar. When you think about it, the word glaucoma does not impress you enough to go to the ophthalmologist. Because one cannot die from such a disease. However, life in the dark for many means the end of an active and quality times or at least it’s what many think.
Glaucoma is optic nerve disease that can lead to permanent vision loss. Every year, 5.5 million new cases of disease are recorded in the world. Glaucoma is considered to be the first cause of blindness when it comes to optic nerve diseases.
And all it takes are just a few little steps so the word “glaucoma” doesn’t scare you so much.
What to do?
First, try to find out if someone in your family was or is treated of said disease (mother, father, brother or maybe sister). Because elevated intraocular pressure can be inherited just like any other disease. If you have received confirmation, make sure to do the check-up in the glaucoma detection and treatment cabinet. It's painless and can benefit you a lot.
Regular check-ups will make your fear of possible permanent vision loss disappear:
- If you are over 40, have a general ophthalmic examination because an increased risk of intraocular pressure problems comes with this age.
- If you are a diabetic, be careful as well. The aforementioned basic disease may be accompanied with glaucoma. So, listen to your diabetologist and follow his instructions.
- If the thyroid gland is weaker, i.e. if you have hypothyroidism, visit the ophthalmologist occasionally as it may lead to glaucoma.
- If you are taking high corticosteroids dosage over a longer period of time for some reason, intraocular pressure control is necessary. These medications can increase the ocular pressure.
These are some of the situations where you need to be careful. Glaucoma is said to be a quiet vision thief. And you, dear readers, you be the good cops. Forestall it, imprison and condemn it to a life sentence. How will you do that? The answer is simple and easy: regular check-ups at the ophthalmologist.
If you are in the risk group, we recommend it once a year, and others after 40 years of age every two to four years. And do not forget. Just measuring the intraocular pressure is not enough. Although elevated intraocular pressure is considered to be the major risk factor for glaucoma, there may be visible visual impairments of the optic nerve and accompanying issues in visual field. On the other hand, any intraocular pressure increase does not have to mean that a person has glaucoma.
Glaucoma diagnosis with unavoidable intraocular pressure measurement includes a detailed ophthalmic examination with visual acuity check, ocular angle examination, corneal thickness measurement, ocular background examination (including optic nerve and macula), visual nerve capture by optical coherence tomography and visual field computer examination.
Dr. Morena Gavrić, glaucoma subspecialist