The Impact of Glaucoma on Vision Health

Dr.Prashaant Chaudhry, 4 mins read

Glaucoma (kala motiyabind) is often referred to as the ‘silent thief of sight’ as it silently progresses and affects our vision health. However, managing it properly and periodically consulting your doctor can help you tackle this condition.

Glaucoma is a medical condition that refers to abnormal high fluid pressure within the eyes. This can damage the optic nerves, which carry visual messages captured by the eyes. 

If this problem continues for a longer time, it can cause vision loss or sometimes even blindness. That’s why it is always recommended to keep a watch on your eye health to catch this disease at an early stage. There is no treatment for vision lost due to glaucoma, but further losses can be prevented by treatment, so every effort should be made to treat it early, before symptoms occur. 

Though it can affect anyone, certain groups are at a higher risk, such as:

• People with diabetes
• People over 60 years of age
• African Americans above 40 years of age
• People with a family history of glaucoma

Glaucoma symptoms usually progress slowly and affects the “peripheral vision” at first so, it often goes unnoticed at an early stage. Around half of the people with this condition don’t even know they have it. The only way to detect this is a comprehensive dilated exam. 

When a doctor doesn’t find any underlying cause behind glaucoma, it is considered primary glaucoma. If the doctor finds any other underlying medical condition responsible for this disease, it is known as secondary glaucoma. 

As the disease progress, it can cause:

• No Symptoms
• Red eye
• Headache
• Intense eye pain
• Blurred eye vision
• Nausea and vomiting
• Tenderness around the eyes

Apart from this, you may see bright rings around lights. That’s why there’s a great need to treat and manage it properly. If it is left untreated, it can affect vision and overall quality of life. 

Common Challenges

Patients in an advanced stage of glaucoma are at higher risk of motor-vehicle crashes and falls. This is because the peripheral vision is lost and one has only a “tunnel vision left”.  That’s not all! It can even impact a person psychologically. Patients start avoiding social gatherings and occasions. 

Driving Risk

Driving is a primary activity in metropolitan cities for many people to commute from one place to another. But many patients with glaucoma have to leave this activity. That’s because this disease increases the risk of driving crashes by multiple folds. 

The risk almost doubles if both eyes are affected. Patients with this disease usually experience difficulty in maintaining speed and lane. So, if you have glaucoma, you should talk to your ophthalmologist to know whether you can drive.

Fall Risk

People in the later stage of glaucoma have almost three to four times greater risk of falls. This could lead to further complications, like injury. And you’ll be amazed to know that fall is one of the leading causes of accidental death in persons over 65 years of age.

A study shows that nearly half of all patients with visual field loss due to glaucoma fall over a calendar year. And around one out of three patients suffer a fall-related injury. The consequences of falls go beyond the injury. They can restrict themselves from physical activity and isolate themselves due to fear of falling.

Our vision plays an important role in balance control and environmental navigation. When a person suffers from advanced-stage glaucoma, he or she may experience difficulty in balancing and walking. This causes them to often bump into objects.

In addition to driving and fall risk, it can affect a person’s ability to read and perform other vision-dependent daily life activities. 

Management and Treatment

There’s good news that glaucoma can be managed. As it rarely shows any symptoms at the initial stage, it’s good to consider a periodic eye checkup plan for yourself and your family members. 

This will help you to diagnose the condition at an early stage, which will make the management of the disease easier for you. 

Medications

There are many eye drops and medications out there. Your doctor may prescribe you an eye drop which can help you. Some increase drainage and decrease fluids, which helps in improving eye pressure.

Laser Therapy

Your doctor may recommend laser therapy, which is effective in improving fluid drainage from the eyes. The doctor uses a laser in this treatment. It can be recommended as the first line of treatment or with drops. The results of treatment can vary but usually last for years. 

Surgery

Surgery is another treatment approach that provides better eye control pressure. Its result is even faster than eye drops and laser therapy. It is often recommended to slow down vision loss. If medications are unable to control the eye pressure. 

Takeaway!

Glaucoma is a debilitating condition that can cause vision impairment and blindness over time if not treated at the right time.  That’s why it’s recommended to get your eyes checked and consult with your ophthalmologist periodically.

Also, Read: Acute congestive glaucoma