Glaucoma

What is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma isn’t just one eye disease, but an entire group of eye disorders that leads to optic nerve damage. It can potentially result in vision loss. Sometimes, but not in every case, the damage is caused by unusually high pressure within the eye itself. Glaucoma is one of the main causes of blindness in the U.S. alone. It can damage your eyesight so slowly that you may not even notice any vision loss until the disease has progressed to a more advanced stage. The most common kind form of glaucoma is: primary open-angle-glaucoma. This form has no obvious symptoms or signs except the gradual loss of vision. For best results, early detection and treatment is the key to minimizing the disease as much as possible or to prevent further optic nerve damage and decrease glaucoma-related loss of vision. It’s crucial to get an eye exam on a regular basis.

What are the Symptoms of Glaucoma?

The most common kinds of glaucoma-related vision loss are primary open-angle-glaucoma and angle-closure-glaucoma. Angle-closure glaucoma manifests entirely different symptoms in people than primary open-angle glaucoma.

Signs of acute angle-closure-glaucoma include the following:

• Pain in the eye(s)
• Nausea and vomiting along with severe eye pain
• Blurry vision
• Red eyes
• Abrupt onset of visual problems, typically in low light
• Seeing halos around lights

Signs of open-angle-glaucoma include the following:

• Tunnel vision in the later stages
• Steady loss of peripheral vision, typically in both eyes

If you are experiencing some or many of these particular symptoms simultaneously, especially if you have eye pressure; seek medical attention immediately at Atlanta Vision Cataract & Laser Center or at an emergency room since you may need to be treated for glaucoma-related issues.

Both angle-closure and open-angle-glaucoma can either be primary or secondary disorders. They’re referred to as primary if the cause isn’t known, and referred to as secondary if the disorder can be traced back to an identifiable cause like an eye injury, tumor, diabetes, advanced cataracts, certain eye disorders, inflammation, or medications.

What are Risk Factors for Glaucoma?

Because certain forms of glaucoma can destroy your vision prior to any noticeable symptoms or signs are obvious, be mindful of the following aspects:

• Ethnic background. Certain ethnic groups are more predisposed than other ethnic groups to particular forms of glaucoma.
• Long-term corticosteroid use
• Increased internal eye pressure
• Certain medical conditions
• Family history
• Other eye disorders
• Age

Laser Treatment

Open-angle glaucoma threatens the sight of more than 50 million people worldwide, with the number of annual cases significantly on the rise. This means glaucoma patients are an increasingly important part of any practice. Lumenis offers an array of ophthalmic laser systems that continue to provide the ophthalmologist with essential surgical tools to help lower intraocular pressure and control this progressive, degenerative disease. 

A minimally invasive technological breakthrough, the Selecta II glaucoma laser system is changing the future vision of glaucoma patients with Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT). SLT provides the benefits of Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty (ALT) without the coagulative damage that leads to scarring. From photocoagulators to photodisruptors, Lumenis' family of advanced laser technologies are an invaluable mainstay in the treatment of glaucoma.