Medical Questions » Eyes Questions » Question No. 338
| Question: | My mother has been diagnosed as having mild glaucoma, but all the doctor has done is give her some eye drops. How is glaucoma treated? |
| Answer: | Your sight is one of your most valued possessions. Any disease that can reduce your vision, or worse still, make you blind, is of great concern. One such disease is glaucoma.
Glaucoma is an increase in the pressure of the fluid inside the eye. If this pressure becomes too high, the eye can be permanently damaged. It is diagnosed by measuring the pressure inside the eyeball.
There are two methods of measuring the eyeball pressure. In the older method, special drops to numb the eye are used, and then an instrument is rested on the eye for a few seconds. A more sophisticated method is to use a machine that puffs air onto the eye for a fraction of a second and measures the amount of air pressure reflected from the eye. Both can give very accurate measurements of the eye pressure.
Looking at the outside of the eye at different angles, and examining the back of the eyeball with a magnifying instrument also help make the diagnosis.
There are more than 20 different types of glaucoma, with different causes and therefore different treatments. It is a complex area, that once suspected or diagnosed, is best dealt with by an ophthalmologist (specialist eye doctor).
Treatment involves the use of one or more eye drops on a regular basis, every day, usually for the rest of the patient' s life. Some types of glaucoma may also require the taking of tablets. Occasionally the disease settles spontaneously in old age.
Glaucoma cannot be prevented, but it can be controlled successfully in nearly all patients, and sometimes it can be cured by surgery. The surgery increases the rate of drainage of fluid from the eye, and may involve the use of lasers to burn microscopic drain holes in the corner of the eye. With modern treatment techniques, the outcome for patients with glaucoma is normally very good, but continued follow-up by a doctor is essential.
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