Know About Glaucoma In Elders

Glaucoma, a serious eye condition affects millions of people worldwide; affecting mostly elders above the age of 60, it results in nerve damage and vision loss. Occurring due to abnormally high intraocular pressure; it calls for elders to regularly go for eye examination; detected early glaucoma could save one of gradual and permanent vision loss. 

It is first important to know the causes of glaucoma; it depends on the type of glaucoma that a person has.

 
The first type of glaucoma namely primary open angle glaucoma occurs when the normal drainage angle between the cornea and the iris remains open. This also blocks another drainage channel inside the eye and increases the intraocular pressures with time and damages the optic nerve.

The second type of glaucoma namely angle closure glaucoma occurs when a person’s iris bulges and narrows or blocks the drainage angle between the iris and cornea leading to an increase in intraocular pressure due to the pressure of the fluid that is not able to adequately exit the eyes.

Knowing the symptoms of glaucoma would help diagnose and treat it early.

The symptom of primary open angle glaucoma is the gradual loss of peripheral vision in both eyes; you would notice that in advanced stages the elder would have what is termed as tunnel vision where one loses visual acuity in the peripheral vision fields, but retains visual acuity in the central region.

The symptoms in case of angle closure glaucoma are eye pain, eye redness, nausea, sudden onset of visual disturbance, nausea, blurred vision and problems with glares.

Both types of glaucoma namely, primary open angle glaucoma and angle closure glaucoma are treated differently; they could however be classified as primary and secondary conditions.

It is also worthwhile here to note that glaucoma could be caused by unknown causes or could be symptoms of a larger problem like eye injury, medication or any other eye condition.

It is next best to understand the risk factors of glaucoma in elders:

Age is the first risk factor for glaucoma with those above the age of 60 years being at a higher risk; this calls for regular examination of these elders by an optometrist.

Next it is important to note that ethnicity plays an important role; African-Americans have a higher risk of developing glaucoma at a much younger age, even 40 years of age. This calls for African-Americans to have regular eye exams from this age.

If you have regular elevated intraocular pressures, it could be a predominant risk factor though it does not necessarily indicate you should have glaucoma. It however calls for regular examination with an eye specialist and taking measures to keep your eye pressure under control.

Having a family history of glaucoma puts you at a higher risk for developing this disease; make sure you regularly have your eye pressures checked.

Medical conditions like diabetes, certain heart diseases, hypothyroidism or high blood pressure increase the risk of developing glaucoma; such conditions also call for regular eye examinations.

Finally it is very important for elders to have their eye checked regularly to detect glaucoma in the initial stages and take treatment before it leads to total blindness for life.