Stages of Glaucoma Treatment: Part 1

Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease which will lead to blindness if left untreated. For many years its diagnosis was based on results of eye pressure testing -- when the eye's internal pressure was a certain amount higher than average, it was thought that glaucoma was present.

More recently, diagnosis has been based on optic nerve damage. That is because many cases have showed up where:

• Internal pressure is high but no optic nerve damage is present; and conversely,
• Optic nerve damage is present but the internal pressure is not high

The optic nerves run from each eye's retina (back inside surface full of light-sensitive cells) to the brain vision center at the back of the head. They carry neural data that tells the brain what you are looking at, and the brain interprets that and finds names for it all.

What Makes the Eye's Pressure High?

It has to do with the eye's drainage system. Our eyes are filled with fluids and are continually creating and releasing fluid. Tiny channels run from the inside corners of the eyes, connecting with the nasal passages and sinuses, and this allows excess fluid to drain away.

When the drainage channels become blocked for some reason, pressure builds up in the eye. Alternatively, when the eye produces more fluid than it can drain off, pressure builds up.

Glaucoma's elevated pressures cause optic nerve damage which is irreversible. That damage prevents the nerve from carrying full information to the brain, which means that your vision becomes less and less full. Peripheral vision starts to disappear and you will not notice until some of the central vision becomes affected. So unless you have regular glaucoma tests, you can become partially blind without realizing it.

Treatment Stages

1. Glaucoma Eyedrops

There are several types of eyedrops developed at different times in the past 100 years or so, but they all have the effect of lowering internal eye pressure. Some increase fluid outflow and some reduce fluid production. The newer ones have fewer side effects and are most often used -- examples are Xalatan (generic: latanoprost), Lumigan (generic: bimatoprost), and Travatan (generic: travaprost).

Many patients at some point become immune to, or tolerant of, the eyedrops. For some, they don't work, for unknown reasons.

Please watch this space for Part 2 of Stages of Glaucoma Treatment. If you are in the North Florida area and would like to learn more about glaucoma, please visit The Eye Center in Panama City, Florida. They have Nine Doctors and One Vision -- Yours.