GLAUCOMA
What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a group of diseases in which high pressure inside the eye leads to loss of vision by damaging the optic nerve. In most cases, glaucoma has no symptoms until very late in the course of the disease, so it is important that you have your intraocular pressure measured regularly. Intraocular pressure, or IOP, is the pressure inside the eye. IOP measurement is a routine part of all complete eye exams. Pressure can build up in the eye when the clear liquid produced by the eye is prevented from draining properly. There are different ways that this can happen, depending on the type of glaucoma; but high pressure in the eye can lead to damage to the optic nerve, that is the nerve that carries electrical impulses to the brain, which are then interpreted as visual images.
If your IOP is found to be high during examination, your eye doctor should assess the appearance of your optic nerve by examining the back of your eye, and perhaps also perform a test called a visual field.
Symptoms of Glaucoma
In glaucoma, visual acuity or reading vision is preserved until late; early signs can consist of loss of peripheral vision. This loss can be measured by a visual field test in which a patient looks into a computerized-lighted bowl and indicates how often he sees the presented lights. The computer continues to decrease the intensity of those lights until it reaches a threshold where the patient can no longer detect the stimulus. The computer tests and retests each area of vision to determine the level of visual loss with great sensitivity so that your eye doctor may determine if there is a problem early, long before you would notice any visual difficulties. This early detection allows your eye doctor to decide if medical treatment is necessary to bring down your IOP and preserve your vision.
Treatment Options
The most common form of glaucoma treatment in the United States are topical eye drops and laser therapy.
Loss of vision due to glaucoma cannot be reversed by any procedure. Regular eye examinations by experienced eye doctor remain the optimal tool for preventing glaucoma.
Pressure measurement is painless and can be performed here at the Jofe Eye Institute е and our specialist Dr. Regina M. Smolyak, M.D. is available to those patients who upon testing are found to have this condition.
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