World Glaucoma Week is celebrated from 12 to 18 March, and this year’s theme is “Glaucoma Concern: Consensus for Vision, Guidelines for Light”.Glaucoma is a disease in which the atrial fluid (the eye’s nutrient fluid) in the eye is produced excessively or the circulation is blocked, resulting in a build-up of excessive atrial fluid in the eye, leading to an increase in intraocular pressure and pressure on the optic nerve, which can lead to vision loss or blindness. In recent years, glaucoma has become an important factor affecting the health of middle-aged and elderly people. In particular, some patients with chronic glaucoma lose some or even all of their vision unnoticed and live to regret it. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to early screening, timely diagnosis and treatment to prevent glaucoma from causing blindness.
Glaucoma has become an important factor affecting the health of middle-aged and elderly people.
The prevalence of glaucoma increases with age. Some surveys have shown that at least two out of every 100 people over the age of 50 suffer from glaucoma, and the prevalence rate for people over the age of 40 is significantly higher than that of young people, at 1.4%, with the number of people blinded by glaucoma accounting for 5.3% to 21% of all blind people, and even up to 30% in some areas. In recent years, China has achieved remarkable results in controlling the problem of cataract blindness, and many hospitals at the village level in coastal areas can perform cataract surgery, which makes the problem of glaucoma blindness relatively more and more prominent, and glaucoma has become an important factor affecting the health of middle-aged and elderly people.
Mood swings and prolonged reading can trigger glaucoma.
Glaucoma can be divided into two categories, primary glaucoma and secondary glaucoma, depending on its cause. The cause of primary glaucoma is not known, but patients generally have factors such as small eyeballs, short eye axis, hyperopia and shallow anterior chamber. Glaucoma can be triggered by mood swings, spending too much time in poorly lit areas, or reading with the head down for long periods of time. Secondary occurrence of glaucoma is mostly due to inflammation, trauma, bleeding and tumours that damage the structure of the atrial angle, causing an increase in intraocular pressure due to obstruction of atrial fluid drainage.
Eye drops are the preferred and most commonly used treatment for glaucoma.
The basic principle of treatment for glaucoma is to lower the intraocular pressure and protect the optic nerve. For primary open-angle glaucoma and hypertension, topical treatment with eye drops is the preferred and most common method. Commonly used eye drops include Thimaxinan eye drops and Pyridoxine eye drops. If the eye drops are still not effective in lowering IOP, oral or intravenous medications such as acetazolamide tablets and mannitol may be added. If the IOP is still not reduced effectively, other treatments should be chosen, including laser treatment and surgery. Closed-angle glaucoma should be treated with early surgery, with medication as an adjunct.
People over 40 should have their eye pressure and fundus checked annually.
Acute attacks of glaucoma are easy to detect and usually include swelling and pain in the eye, loss of vision and migraines, and even nausea, vomiting, increased body temperature and a rapid pulse rate. Non-acute attacks are less likely to be detected and treatment may be delayed. If you have any of the following conditions, you may have glaucoma and should go to hospital for an examination: 1. regular eye swelling and pain, pain at the base of the nose and eyebrow arch without myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism or other diseases; 2. a rainbow-like halo around the eye when looking at a lamp or other light source, or a fog in front of the eye; 3. red and bloodshot eyes, blurred vision, pain but no discharge; 4. farsighted eyes and nearsighted eyes. 4. those who are farsighted and those who are nearsighted have recently experienced a significant loss of vision; 5. those over 40 years of age who have frequently changed their presbyopic glasses and still find them unsuitable; 6. those with a family history of glaucoma.
It should be noted that some forms of glaucoma, such as open-angle glaucoma and chronic closed-angle glaucoma, can be asymptomatic in the early stages of the disease and cannot usually be self-diagnosed. This type of disease progresses slowly and is often in an advanced stage by the time visual impairment occurs. Therefore, people over the age of 40 should have their eye pressure and fundus checked annually as a precautionary measure.
Glaucoma prevention starts with daily practice.
As the cause of primary glaucoma is still not well understood, prevention of glaucoma is mainly about avoiding triggering factors, keeping a regular lifestyle, getting enough sleep, being emotionally stable and eating well.
These factors can affect the vascular nerve regulating centre, causing dysfunction of the vasodilation and contraction of the blood vessels. On the one hand, they can cause capillary dilatation and increased vascular permeability, resulting in edema and anterior displacement of the ciliary muscle, blocking the anterior chamber angle and obstructing the atrial water outflow channel; on the other hand, they can cause excessive secretion of atrial water, excessive pressure in the posterior chamber, and shallowing of the anterior chamber and narrowing of the anterior chamber angle due to pressure on the peripheral iris moving forward. All of these factors can cause a dramatic increase in IOP, leading to an acute attack of glaucoma.
