Glaucoma is one of the most common eye diseases affecting Australians today. In its early stages glaucoma does not usually cause any symptoms. With early detection and treatment using the latest therapies, most patients do well. Hence regular testing with your optometrist is essential to pick glaucoma up early. If signs of glaucoma are detected or patients have significant risk factors for glaucoma a specialist review will often be recommended.
During a routine eye testing at the optometrist, you’ve probably been asked to sit down in front of a small machine that blows a puff of air into your eye. Your eye’s reaction to that puff of air allows the machine to calculate the pressure inside your eye.
Why do we care about that? Because it tells us whether you may have glaucoma.
What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that involve irreversible vision loss due to damage to the optic nerve.
Glaucoma is:
- Quite common – 1 in 50 of us will develop it at some stage
- Strongly influenced by family history – you’re 10 times more likely to get it if a relative has it
- Easily missed – 50% of people with glaucoma don’t know they have it.
There are two main types of glaucoma:
- Open-angle glaucoma, which accounts for 90% of cases
- Angle-closure glaucoma, which accounts for the remaining 10%.
What causes glaucoma?
High eye pressure increases the risk of glaucoma but there are multiple other factors to consider. Whether you develop glaucoma depends on how much pressure your optic nerve can handle. This can vary from person to person.
Fluid builds up and increases pressure in the eye. As time goes on, that pressure damages the optic nerve, which sits behind your eye, and causes vision loss.
What is usually the first sign of glaucoma?
That depends on the type of glaucoma.
There may be no obvious symptoms in the early stages of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). It involves slow but serious changes to your optic nerve. You may gradually start to lose some peripheral vision but you may not notice until the disease has progressed further. By then, your optic nerve may be significantly damaged.
That’s why your optometrist tests your intraocular pressure at your routine eye checks. This and other tests help us identify early signs of glaucoma long before you may notice vision changes. Early detection enables prompt treatment to help protect your eyesight.
While POAG may creep up on you slowly, acute angle-closure glaucoma hits you hard from the beginning. You may experience:
- Severe eye pain
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Watery eyes
- Sudden blurred vision or halos around light.
Acute angle-closure glaucoma is a medical emergency. See your eye specialist immediately or go to your nearest hospital emergency department.
How is glaucoma diagnosed?
To diagnose glaucoma, your optometrist or ophthalmologist may:
- Measure your eye pressure using tonometry
- Examine your eyes closely to assess your:
- The health of the optic nerve
- Eye drainage angle
- Central and peripheral vision
- Corneal thickness (you’re at higher risk of glaucoma if your cornea – the outer layer of your eye – is thin)
- Take photographs and computer measurements of your optic nerve.
Is glaucoma hereditary?
Yes, in many cases it is. You’re 10 times more likely to develop it if you have a relative with it.
The risk is even greater if you have a parent, sibling or child with glaucoma, especially if they have advanced glaucoma.
It’s important to know your family history. If you’re not sure, ask family members so that you can pass on this important information to your optometrist or ophthalmologist. It will strongly influence their clinical decisions.
What are some other risk factors for glaucoma?
As well as family history, your risk of glaucoma increases if you:
- Have high pressure in your eye
- Are over 50
- Are of African or Asian descent
- Are short-sighted or long-sighted
- Have had an eye operation or eye injury
- Have other health conditions like:
- Diabetes
- Migraines
- High or low blood pressure
- Obstructive sleep apnoea
- Have taken steroid medications for a long time.
How to prevent glaucoma
Maintaining good overall health and managing any underlying medical conditions may help to prevent glaucoma.
But one of the best things you can do is to have a regular eye check. You should get your eyes checked every 2 years from the age of 40 if you:
- Are of Asian or African descent
- Have a family history of glaucoma.
If you have a relative with advanced glaucoma, we recommend that you are even more cautious. You should have regular checkups from 10 years earlier than your relative’s age at diagnosis. So, if your dad was diagnosed with advanced glaucoma at the age of 55, you should start being checked from age 45.
Everyone else should have a glaucoma test every 2 years from the age of 50.
If your optometrist or ophthalmologist considers you to be at high risk of developing glaucoma, they may recommend checkups every 6 months to protect your eyesight.
How is glaucoma treated?
There is no way to reverse damage to your optic nerve or to recover eyesight already lost due to glaucoma. Treatment focuses on slowing or preventing further damage, mostly by reducing pressure in your eye.
Treatment may involve:
- Eye drops
- Medication – oral or intravenous
- Laser treatment to improve fluid drainage from your eye
- Surgery to improve fluid drainage from your eye (usually only considered if other treatments have not succeeded).
How can we help?
At OKKO Eye Specialist Centre, we are vigilant about helping you protect your eyesight. We understand how alarming conditions like glaucoma can be and we provide a high degree of specialist care in a warm and reassuring manner.
If you are concerned about glaucoma, please book an appointment today.
Disclaimer
All information is general and not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks.
References
- Glaucoma Australia, What is glaucoma? https://glaucoma.org.au/what-is-glaucoma, [Accessed 12 June 2024]
- National Eye Institute, Glaucoma and eye pressure, https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/glaucoma/glaucoma-and-eye-pressure, [Accessed 12 June 2024]
- Glaucoma Australia, Testing for glaucoma, https://glaucoma.org.au/what-is-glaucoma/testing-for-glaucoma, [Accessed 12 June 2024]
- Glaucoma Australia, Risk factors for glaucoma, https://glaucoma.org.au/what-is-glaucoma/risk-factors-for-glaucoma, [Accessed 12 June 2024]
