So what exactly is Glaucoma?
and
What causes it?
Well in this video I't going to be covering just that and more!
So let's...take a look!
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Otherwise let's go over "What is Glaucoma"
So glaucoma is a condition or a disease
where the optic nerve dies
over time leading to vision loss and blindness
Now lets stop and break that into pieces and make more sense out of it
the optic nerve is the chord that connects the eye to the brain
Light enters the eye, hits the retina
and that information gets sent down the optic nerve
to the visual processing centers, of your brain
and that gives you your eyesight
So if something causes damage to the nerve or the nerve dies
and yeah...blindness sucks
However, most cases of glaucoma
are actually detected very early
with comprehensive eye exams
and treatment is excellent
most people who get regular eye exams
get glaucoma detected early on
so that with treatments most people never go blind from glaucoma any more
except there are some types of glaucoma
that are very complicated and severe
so even with the best treatments some people can lose vision
and go blind from this condition
now what most people think about when they see their eye doctor
and they think about glaucoma
they think EYE PRESSURE
because there is this pressure test at any eye exam you will have
where again we check the pressure
and we are checking that to make sure the pressure isn't too high
and its true. HIGH EYE PRESSURE is associated
with most types of Glaucoma
However, not all of them
You can actually develop glaucoma even with NORMAL EYE PRESSURES
and we call that NORMAL TENSION GLAUCOMA
And just a fun fact for today's video
a normal eye pressure for most people
is between 10 and 21 millimeters of murcery
now whether someone develops high eye pressures
or normal tension glaucoma
the treatment is really the same we either prescribe
medicated eye drops or surgery to low that pressure down
and for most people the treatment is really good
however their are people where even if we
bring that pressure really low they still advance
and they lose vision
and so early detection is really key when it comes to glaucoma
so if you haven't had an eye exam in the last year
I really hope you can call you eye doctor and get seen
just to make sure you are not developing this common disease
so now "What Causes Glaucoma?"
and honestly I don't know, in fact
its kind of still a medical mystery
we don't know the exact cause for glaucoma
however there are many different theories out there
and we do know that most types of glaucoma again
are associated with that elevated eye pressure
so lets at least go over what eye pressure is
inside the eye and how it damages
the nerve and causes glaucoma
so within the eye there is actually a fluid
it's as clear fluid that acts like the blood of the eye
it supplies energy and nutrients
to the eye to keep it healthy and we call that fluid the AQUEOUS HUMOUR
this aqueous humour is generated inside the eye
by a structure called the ciliary body
and the ciliary body is constantly generating this fluid
all the time...every day
and this fluid actually flows from the ciliary body
behind the iris, it goes through the pupil
and it actually drains through a structure called the ANGLE
and that's the junction created by the iris, the colored part of the eye,
and the cornea, the clear window to the eye
and if for some reason...this drain gets plugged up
the ciliary body keeps producing aqueous humour
and the pressure starts to get higher and higher
and the problem with high eye pressure
you can think of it like a bike tire
filled with a lot of air
if you keep pumping the air pressure higher and higher
and the weakest part of the tire
will eventually thin
and bulge outward
and if you keep pumping the air
that bulge will eventually pop
so the same concept happens with the eye.
if the pressure keeps getting higher and higher
the weakest part of the eye will bulge outward
and the weakest part is the optic nerve.
In fact, we call that optic nerve head cupping
because when the doctor looks at the eye, it looks like a cup
so when that happens
the individual nerves that make up the optic nerve
there's about a million different fibers
those fibers actually get pinched off
and they eventually die
and that's what causes vision loss
in fact the vision loss that starts with glaucoma
usually develops so slowly...
that people don't even realize it's happening until it's too late
until its already into the moderate stages of the disease
now the type of vision loss, if you ever experience glaucoma
and you experience the vision loss...it happens in your side vision
your peripheral vision
will slowly fade to dark
and it usually starts in one quadrant
sometimes forms an arc over the top of your vision
it can then include the lower part of your vision
and progresses to complete tunnel vision
if it continues to progress without treatment
it can even affect the central part of your vision
until you have none left
now although eye pressure plays a significant role
it is not the only cause for glaucoma
in fact the disease is associated with many risk factors
such as genetics, age
history of trauma
and then other diseases like high blood pressure and even diabetes
so now who is at the greatest risk for glaucoma?
well the reality is that anybody can get glaucoma
but people with a family history are more likely to get it
so you have a grandma or grandpa who had glaucoma
or a parent or a sibling make sure you let your doctor know
because they are going to want to know that
people of older age are also more likely
so if your over the age of 60...your at a higher risk
if you have any African or Hispanic heritage
you are at higher risk
now again age and risk go hand in hand for glaucoma
but you can actually get the disease at any time
even children can be born with glaucoma
and we call that congenital glaucoma
now the big take away I want from this video
is that glaucoma can be detected early on
and treated to prevent vision loss
or at least delay it
so its really important that you have an eye exam
so if you haven't had an eye exam this last year
I hope that you can call your eye doctor and get seen
Remember that you only get 2 eyes, so please take care of them!
Have you ever been diagnosed with glaucoma? How long?
Did you find this video helpful?
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