Articles Posted in Glaucoma

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month. With an estimated 3 million people in the United States living with glaucoma, this is a good time to be educated about glaucoma and how to test for it.  Glaucoma is an eye condition that primarily affects the optic nerve.  This is an aggressive condition where symptoms typically worsen, and in most cases, will result in total or permanent blindness.  The condition may progress slowly, but the vision loss can set in within a few years after the initial symptoms begin.

Persons over the age of 40, those with a family history of glaucoma and those with poor vision or health conditions like diabetes, high blood reassure or heart disease may be at a higher risk of glaucoma. If you’ve suffered an eye injury, or have suffered serious eye infections, you may be more susceptible to glaucoma. Certain medications like steroids may also place you at a higher risk of this condition.

Symptoms can include seeing halos around objects, poor vision, redness or eye pain. If you experience these symptoms, talk to an ophthalmologist and get tested for glaucoma. Tests for these conditions can include a tonometry test, a dilated eye exam in which the doctor will dilated your pupil to see the optic nerve, epically the colour and shape in detail, and a vision field test that maps your field of vision.

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month.  According to the results of a new study,  children who have suffered cataracts in infancy have a 22% higher risk of developing glaucoma 10 years later. The results, published in the JAMA Ophthalmology Journal, came from a study which was funded by the National Eye Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health.  Children who have suffered cataracts in their infancy have a much higher risk of developing glaucoma when they get older.

Typically one may think of cataracts as afflicting only older people, but children can also be affected by this condition. In many cases, the cataract is detected by an eye exam soon after birth. In other cases, parents will detect the cataract themselves as the child gets older. Cataracts are especially dangerous in young children because young children’s eyes continue to develop until they are about 10 years old.  Cataracts can affect the development of vision. While the condition may be congenital in some, it may be acquired in others.

According to the researchers, the results indicate that it is important to constantly monitor infants, who have undergone cataract surgery, for glaucoma. In many cases, children with glaucoma undergo an intraocular lens surgery to replace the afflicted lens with an intraocular lens.  However, the research  indicates that replacing the lens with an intraocular lens does not necessarily diminish the chances of developing glaucoma later.