Glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness, is estimated to affect 1 of every 50 adults. Although glaucoma can occur at any age, the risk of developing the disease increases dramatically after the age of 35. Glaucoma is also more likely to develop in patients who are severely nearsighted, have a family history of the condition, diabetics and Black or African American. This disease often goes unnoticed until permanent vision loss has occurred. Visual damage from glaucoma can be prevented by early diagnosis and careful treatment. Glaucoma is related to elevated fluid pressure of the eye which is causing loss of side vision. It is a series of diseases which damage the optic nerve. Damage to the optic nerve and retina causes blind spots in the field of vision. When the entire nerve is destroyed, blindness will occur. Glaucoma is usually caused by an increase in the fluid pressure in the eye. The front part of the eye contains a clear, nourishing fluid called aqueous which constantly circulates through the eye. Normally, this fluid leaves the eye through a drainage system and returns to the blood stream. Glaucoma occurs from an overproduction of fluid or when the drainage system becomes blocked, causing fluid pressure to increase. The high pressure causes damage to the optic nerve, resulting in permanent vision loss. The exact reason the fluid system in the eye stops functioning properly is not completely understood
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...
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...eye fluid to leave the eye. The new channel helps to lower the eye pressure. Surgery will be recommended only if your ophthalmologist feels the benefit of a lower eye pressure achieved with an operation outweighs possible complications and/or further progression of optic nerve damage.
Treatment of glaucoma is usually a lifelong process. Glaucoma management requires frequent monitoring and constant treatment. Since there is no way to determine if glaucoma is under control based on how a person feels or their vision, a person with glaucoma should be examined every 3-4 months for the rest of their lives.
Vision loss from glaucoma is permanent but can be prevented with early detection and treatment. Since the symptoms of the disease are usually unnoticeable, regular eye examination are important especially for persons over the age of 35 and those in high risk group.
Loss of vision in one or both eyes
Saxena, Rohit, Diguijay Singh, and Praveen Vashist. “Glaucoma: An Emerging Peril.” Indian Journal of Community Medicine 38.3 (2013): 135-7: Proquest. Web. 7 Jan 2014.
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 ...
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...
The contributing factor is lack of knowledge and family medical screening. Understanding the history of your genetic line specific to your race and ethnicity may be helpful in preventing heart disease later on in adulthood.... ... middle of paper ... ... Current studies of note have focused primarily on middle-class and/or suburban populations.
Stargardt disease or also known as fundus flavimaculatus, is an inherited form of macular degeneration that causes vision loss in an accelerated way usually to the point of legal blindness. Macular degeneration is caused by “the deterioration of the central portion of the retina, the inside back layer of the eye that records the images one sees and sends them via the optic nerve from the eye to the brain. The retinas central portion, known as the macula, is responsible for focusing central vision in the eye, and it controls our ability to read, drive a car, recognize faces or colors, and see objects in fine detail.” (http://www.macular.org/what-macular-degeneration) One can see signs of Stargardt disease starting with the ages between six and twelve years old. The disease plateaus shortly after rapid reduction in visual acuity. Stargardt disease is a genetic condition caused by the death of photoreceptor cells in the central area of the retina called the macula. Karl Stargardt discovered the disease in 1909 and the cause of the disease was no discovered until 1997. The disease occurs because a mutatuion in the ABCA4 gene causes a production of dysfunctional protein that cannot perform energy transport and from photoreceptor cells in the retina.
...al health. Wearing sunglasses to protect your eyes also slows the affects, as sunglasses put less strain on the retinas. Quitting smoking at any point in life can help preserve retinal health. Smoking has been linked to retinal damage. The prognosis for those with retinitis pigmentosa is they will live just as long as a normal person. Early death is not linked to retinitis pigmentosa. The only problems that the person will have are vision problems. Each person has a different experience with retinitis pigmentosa. No one case is like another.
According to Baily and Hall, while visual impairment early in life is associated with inherited congenital disorders, abnormal fetal devepment, and problems associated with premature birth, most eye conditions are associated with aging. They claim that over 70% of the visually impaired population in the United States is over 65. Age related maculopathy, also called macular degeneration, or AMD, impairs the center of vision in older individuals. The macula is the region in the back of the retina that surrounds and includes the fovea (Goldstein 1999). It is important to understand that when this degeneration progresses enough, the condition constitutes blindness because the foveal area is what is used to focus on something. Most cases do not progress this far, but between five and 20% do. Allikments and Shroyer claim that 11 million people in the United States alone suffer some degree of this impairment, with 75% of those individuals being 75 or older. Seven percent of this older age group reportedly suffer advanced forms. Freidman reports the disease as most common in developed countries.
There are numerous risk factors for breast cancer. Genetics or family history of breast cancer in a one first-degree relative with breast cancer doubles a woman’s risk. Having two first degree relatives rises a woman’s risk by three times. A person’s personal history who have had one breast with cancer is three to four times as likely of developing a new cancer. White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are African-American women, but African-American women are more likely to die from this cancer. However in women under 45 years of age, breast cancer is more common in African-American women.
Imagine a researcher requesting you to copy a picture. It's a simple task. You move your instrument of illustration across a sheet of blank paper with ease, glancing from the given picture to your own sketch in progress. When you are finished you observe a satisfactory replica and feel a sense of accomplishment and proficiency with the similarity you have achieved between picture and sketch. Then the researcher queries whether you can tell him what you have drawn. You search the interconnected lines, the edges, and the shapes of your sketch but cannot answer what the picture represents. Finally, an explanation is given. You have just drawn a house- a simple triangle resting on top of a square. Your sense of accomplishment is quickly replaced with a feeling of despair.
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).
The leading cause of blindness in America is Cataract followed by Glaucoma. I was born with Cataract and Glaucoma followed shortly thereafter. When the doctors told my parents I had Cataract they quickly asked the doctors to operate on me and it was successfully removed. However, that wasn’t the end of my problems, about a couple months later I was going in for a routine checkup when my ophthalmologist noticed a high pressure in my right eye. After some tests they diagnosed me with Glaucoma. I didn’t know about this condition until I was much older and I realized I didn't have sight in my right eye. The only way you would know I have Glaucoma is from the color of my right eye. I’m supposed to have dark brown eyes. My entire family and relatives
Have you ever taken a shower and turned the hot water on in the bathroom, then the mirrors would slowly fog up due to the steam from the shower? Well, the fog from the steam is what having cataracts is like. Cataracts is the clouding up of the eyes lens causing your vision to be blurry. Over 24.4 million Americans that are 40 and above are affected with this disease and that number doubles for people that reach age 75. According to the World Health Organization, cataracts is responsible for 51% of the world’s blindness.
Macular degeneration also known as late, aged-related maculopathy is an eye disorder which causes a decrease in the visual field known as the retinal macula (Medical Encyclopedia, 2000). The majority of people who are affected are people over the age of 65, but occasionally it develops earlier in people 40-50 years old (Philippi, 2000). The majority of the visual loss is located in the central part of the visual field, while the peripheral vision is unharmed. There are also two types of macular degeneration, the "wet" and "dry" forms. The "dry" form of this disease is the most popular, affecting 90% of the cases (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 1997).
This protects the eye from becoming dry.The Cornea, a part of the sclera, is the transparent window of the eye through which light passes. The focusing of the light begins in the cornea.Behind the Cornea is a watery fluid called the aqueous humor. This fluid fills a curved, crescent shaped space, thick in the center and thinner toward the edges. The cornea and the aqueous humor together make an outer lens that refracts, or bends, light and dire...