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whether you or someone you know has been
diagnosed with glaucoma or you're just
wondering what you can do starting today
to prevent serious vision loss from
glaucoma this is the video for you for
those who are new to my channel I'm Dr
Audrey Tha for certified and fellowship
trained Cataract and refractive surgeon
opthalmologist and corne specialist
welcome to my channel I Channel by I
surgeon I'm here to bring you the latest
information on Eye Health and
Medicine many people who have glaucoma
don't even know it because the most
common type of glaucoma is painless in
fact glaucoma was doed the silent thief
of site specifically because its
symptoms are often so gradual that you
may not notice them at all until they're
very Advanced glaucoma usually steals
your side Vision proof of vision first
so you probably won't notice any changes
in your vision right away but people
will lose central vision and have
trouble seeing things if gloma is left
undiagnosed and untreated for a long
time in today's video I will give you 10
actionable tips to prevent glaucoma stay
tuned for these two videos to learn more
about glaucoma and the best currently
available treatments hit the Subscribe
button and notification Bell so you
won't miss any of my new videos tip
number one early detection glaucoma is
is usually painless and frequently not
diagnosed until significant vision loss
has occurred early detection and early
treatment is the key those who are at
risk of developing glaucoma especially
those who have a family member with a
disease should see their opthalmologist
for regular eye exams at least once per
year with regular checkups we can catch
the disease in early stage using special
testing such as optic nerve o and can
stop further vision loss by starting the
appropriate treatment right away
potentially stopping the clock and
preventing further vision loss tip
number two pay attention to your
medications especially steroids it is
very important to let your eye doctor
know if you are taking steroid
containing medications because using
steroids for a long period of time can
raise your eye pressure especially if
you taking steroid medications in high
doses increased eye pressure can cause
glaucoma if you don't have it yet and
speed up vision if you already have
glaucoma so it is very important to have
regular eye exams to check your eye
pressure if you're starting on high dose
or long-term steroid treatment steroid
medications can be many different forms
such as pills injections creams or
patches steroids can also cause other
eye diseases such as cataracts so
definitely let your eye doctor know if
you taking any of those medications tip
number three Vision protecting foods and
vitamins foods that are naturally high
in antioxidants and certain vitamins can
help protect you from developing
glaucoma B vitamins especially vitamin
B12 are known to be important for
maintaining the health of the optic
nerve the optic nerve is a large nerve
bundle that carries messages from the
eye to the brain and it is this nerve
that is damaged by glaucoma Studies have
also shown that people who consumed high
amounts of vitamin A c and e either as
supplements or through food food were
less likely to develop glaucoma in one
study they were 47% less likely than
those who ate a less vitamin Rich diet
surprisingly in that study the vitamins
appear to provide protection only when
all three were taken together the
studies researchers suspected that the
vitamins might have a synergetic effect
when consumed together you can learn
more about which foods contain high
enough amounts of those essential
vitamins in these two videos
tip number four get plenty of exercise
and do it the right way exercise can
lower your blood pressure as well as eye
pressure and increase blood flow to the
eyes all of which can lower your risk of
developing glaucoma and lower long-term
risk of vision loss in people who have
glaucoma while exercise is generally
beneficial for preventing glaucoma and
it can even help treat existing glaucoma
people who already have glaucoma should
speak with their eye doctor first
because in some cases the transient
increases in eye pressure that occur
during certain exercises can actually be
harmful to some individuals exercises
that may not be appropriate for people
with glaucoma include those that involve
prolonged straining breath holding or
positioning the head below the level of
the heart since those are ones most
likely to Wars some pre-existing
glaucoma due to transient increases in
eye pressure which brings me to my tip
number five avoid head down positions
for prolonged periods of time because
the main mechanism of glaucoma is
through excessive amount of fluid build
up in the eye and damage to the optic
nerve placing your head below your heart
for a long period of time can raise your
eye pressure and worsen the damage for
people who have glaucoma they should
avoid certain yoga positions that keep
head down position for a long period of
time such as head or handstands and stay
away from inversion tables or other
equipment that turn the body upside down
tip number six losing your tie a little
bit a 2003 study in British Journal of
Opthalmology found that tight neck ties
can raise inocular pressure which is a
major risk factor for glucoma increase
the pressure around your neck can
obstruct blood circulation from your
head to your heart which can in turn
obstruct fluid drainage in our eyes a
neck tie or a collar that's too tight
can potentially raise our eye pressure
and worsen glaucoma tip number seven
don't sleep face down as I mentioned
earlier glaucoma is a disease that is
often associated with high eye pressure
so sleeping face down or sleeping with
your eyes against your arms or pillows
can potentially obstruct flood drainage
of the eyes and raise eye pressure
during our sleep tip number eight pay
attention if you snore heavily when you
sleep according to the glaucoma Research
Foundation
people with obstructing sleep apnea
syndrome osas a disorder characterized
by repetitive episodes of paus and
shallow breathing during sleep are
approximately 10 times more likely to
develop glaucoma so if you snore heavily
or stop breathing frequently during
sleep make sure you get tested for
obstructive sleep apnea tip number nine
avoid significant blood pressure
fluctuation you probably have heard the
high blood pressure can damage our eyes
but do you know that if your blood
pressure drops too low during sleep it
can make glaucoma worse this is because
low blood pressure or hypotension can
interfere with the blood supply to the
eyes and worsen glaucoma for people who
have history of high blood pressure
especially if you take blood pressure
medications in the evening or at night
make sure you keep track of your blood
pressure and let your opthamologist know
right away if you experience low blood
pressure symptoms such as Li headedness
or dizziness tip number 10 wear proper
eye protection and avoid eye injury eye
injuries can lead to glaucoma by
damaging the fluid drainage system
inside of our eyes causing a type of the
glaucoma called angle recession glaucoma
so always remember to wear protective
eyewear during sports or working with
instruments or equipment you should also
wear proper eye protection whenever you
go out in the sun according to a study
published in the journal Jama
Opthalmology in
2014 increased exposure to sunlight and
the corresponding alra Violet radiation
could increase the risk of a type of
glaucoma called exfoliation
glaucoma which tip do you find is most
helpful and which one will you try to
adapt to your daily routine let me know
in the comments below I hope you find
this video helpful if you have learned
anything new please don't forget to hit
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to the world anytime you don't have 10
minutes you can watch short fun videos
about ey care tips on Instagram at Dr
Audrey Tha and you can also follow me on
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about my practice I look forward to
connecting with your there thank you
again for watching and I will see you in
my next video
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