Glaucoma is a degenerative eye disease that affects three million Americans, though only about half of them know it. The worst part is hat number continues to grow as the at-risk population continues to increase. Do you know if you are at risk of developing glaucoma? Knowing who is at risk for this terrible disease can help reduce the numbers affected.
Easy to Detect Risk Factors
People who are over age 60 have a higher chance of developing glaucoma. The older a person gets, the higher the chances of it happening.
Those who are have black, Asian or Hispanic ancestry are also at higher risk of developing glaucoma. Asians, in particular, are at higher risk of developing angle closure glaucoma, while those of Japanese descent have a higher risk of developing low tension glaucoma.
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Particularly, those who have any of the following: heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or sickle cell anemia. In fact, just about any medical condition which affects the entire body can increase the chances of developing glaucoma. People who have migraines are also vulnerable.
Taking corticosteroid medications for a long time can also make a person have a higher risk. This is especially true with the use of corticosteroid eyedrops.
Having certain eye conditions like nearsightedness, farsightedness or myopia also makes you a candidate for developing this eye condition. Anyone who has corneas which are thin in the center is also vulnerable. Those who have suffered with an eye injury, or undergone an eye surgery, are also at higher risk.
Some Risk Factors are Not So Obvious
Having a high internal eye pressure, also known as intraocular pressure. The only way this can be detected is with a comprehensive eye exam done by an eye
Glaucoma is a disease of the eye and it is fluid pressure within the eye rises and if the eye is left untreated the patient might lose vision or maybe even blind. But this disease is generally affects both eyes but although one of their eyes may have more severe signs or symptoms then the other eye. When you have glaucoma there are small spaces in the front of the eye and they are called anterior chamber. There is clear liquid that flows in and out of the anterior chamber and the fluid nourishes and bathes nearby the tissues. And if the patient has glaucoma the fluid dose not drain like it should drain but the fluid drains out of the eye. And this may lead to fluid build up and pressure inside the rises of the eye. Unless the pressure is brought down and controlled and the optic nerves and some of the other parts of the eye might become damaged leading to ...
There are several factors that can increase the risk for developing glaucoma. People over age of 60 and for African-American the risk begins to increase after age of 40. Race is also a factor in developing glaucoma. African Americans are more likely to get glaucoma than Caucasians, and they are also more likely to s...
Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 50. Every ten years after the age of 50 the prevalence of this disease increases exponentially. Many different factors contribute to the development of AMD including genetic, environment, and metabolic functions. Aside from smoking, abnormal blood pressure, and an unhealthy diet low in fruits and vegetables, many more studies are concluding that similar inflammatory and oxidative processes seen in other age related diseases are also playing a key role in the development of AMD. This disease affects the central areas of the retina and choroid. In return central vision is impaired while peripheral vision is usually not lost. AMD is seen in two different forms, the earlier nonneovascular (dry) type and the more advanced neovascular (wet) type. Each form has its own specific pathology and unique characteristics that set them apart. Fatty, protein deposits called drusens may be the key risk factor in understanding dry AMD pathology, progression, and treatment. Once the more advanced wet AMD is diagnosed, pathology and treatment are targeted around the formation and destruction of abnormal blood vessels, characteristic of the wet AMD eye. The increasing prevalence of AMD has influenced more investigation into what factors can be modulated to prevent the onset or to stop the progression of AMD. Early diagnosis is very important because this is when an eye doctor can spot the early signs of the disease through ultrasound or angiography. This text will discuss the pathology of drusens and the role of inflammation and oxidation in the aged eye. By better understanding these processes more effective treatment approaches and preventive...
While these are risk factors, Dr. Tim Kennedy who Launched Patient.co.uk jointly with his GP wife, Dr. Beverley Kenny, informs us in 1995 that even having a family history, possessing very short sight, or have ever been diagnosed with diabetes puts you at risk of developing a form of glaucoma. Of the different forms of this illness chronic open-angle glaucoma is the one contain...
... certain adrenal cortical steroids are powerful inhibitors of inflammation, toxic side effects limit their usefulness. Similarly, drugs that inhibit proliferation of cells in the inflammatory masses have potentially severe side effects. Drugs that inhibit undesirable inflammation may also inhibit desired inflammatory responses.
Many signs include a "white pupil," also known as leukocoria. Retinoblastoma can occur in either one or two eyes (Paul T. Finger, Pg. 1). This abnormal white pupillary reflex is sometimes referred to as a cat's eye reflex. Another sign of retinoblastoma is a crossed eye (Ambramson, Ch3). Leukocoria doesn't always end up as being retinoblastoma, it can even result in: congenital cataract, Toxocara canis, Coat's disease, and persistent hypertrophic primary vitreous (PHPV) (Finger, Pg.2). Retinoblastoma occurs when there's a mutation or deletion of the q14 band of chromosome 13 (Finger, Pg. 1). Symptoms can be painful if not treated quickly. Some include a red, painful eye, swelling of the surrounding eye, poor vision, dilated pupil, even extra fingers or toes, and retardation (Ambramson, Ch3).
There are several types of amblyopia. Researchers must be aware of the various types of amblyopia because the effects for each are not always consistent. Strabismic amblyopia is caused when the two eyes are out of alignment due to weak musculature. Anisometropic amblyopia is a result of a large difference in refractive power of an individual's eyes. Another form of amblyopia results when visual information does not reach the retina. This is called stimulus deprivation amblyopia. Meridional amblyopia is a result of the diffused images caused by astigmatism. Researchers often discover that there are differences between groups of amblyopes based on type. For example, Levi and his colleagues (1994) discovered differences in vernier acuity between anisomet...
Glaucoma is has several types which include congenital and acquired (Peate & Jones, 2014). Congenital glaucoma is present at birth (Peate & Jones, 2014). Whereas acquired glaucoma is not present at birth and is caused by medications, surgery, inflammation, or other processes (Glaucoma for Children, 2014). Glaucoma is then divided into two sub-groups called open-angle and closed-angle (Peate & Jones, 2014). The first sub-group, open-angle, is the most common of the two (Peate & Jones, 2014). In open-angle glaucoma patients do not notice a change in vision due to the fact that vision loss with this type
Steroids can have many health effects on your body. Many doctors say not to use steroids because of the possible long term effects. A source from a reputable website says, “It is speculated that possible long-term effects may include adverse cardiovascular ef...
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the United States. It tends to run in families and currently affects about 3 million Americans. Although the illness is five times more common in African-Americans than in Caucasians after age 40, the risk of glaucoma goes up with age for people of ethnic backgrounds. Chronic glaucoma, which affects 1 percent to 2 percent of Americans older than 40, is much more common than acute glaucoma.
Robert, a 65 year-old male, has trouble reading fine detail, especially out of his central vision. He complains that his vision is blurred and that it is harder to see while operating a motor vehicle. In addition, sometimes objects appear wavy or crooked, which impairs his vision. His worst symptoms were that he occasionally lost the ability to distinguish between the features of familiar faces and he had a localized blind spot. Robert is not alone; many people suffer from symptoms related to loss and distortion of the visual field. He suffers from macular degeneration, the leading cause of decreased vision loss in the United States, especially for people over the age of 50 (Philippi, 2000).
People with ocular albinism, which only the eye lacks melanin pigment, while everything else appears normal. People who have this have a variety of the eye disorders because of the lack of pigment impairs normal eye development. These effected are extremely sensitive to bright light. Treatment for ocular albinism includes the use of visual aids and surgery for strabismus.
One can be born with a genetic fault that results in a colour deficiency, but it can also be acquired due to chronic illness, accidents or a stroke that damages parts of the brain responsible for vision. Genetic inherited colour blindness cannot be treated, but there is hope on the horizon for a cure. Acquired colour blindness can potentially be cured by treating the disease that results in a colour
The standard tests that an ophthalmologist will give a new and continuing patient are checking color vision, visual acuity which is when the patient reads a word or picture chart off the wall to check the smallest letters or pictures to be read, and a refraction test to check an existing eyeglass prescription. If retinal detachment is suspected they will do a fluorescein angiography to check the blood flow in the retina. This is done by using a special dye and a camera and a scope called an ophthalmoscopy. The ophthalmologist will also most likely do a slit-lamp examination to check the structures of the front of the eye and tonometry which checks the pressure inside the eye. An ultrasound of the eye can determine how severe a retinal detachment is and what treatment procedures can be done to correct it if possible (Frazier