Glaucoma The Silent Thief Of Sight

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Glaucoma The Silent Thief Of Sight

Glaucoma is one of the most common diseases of the eye. It is estimated that nearly 59 million people worldwide will have primary open-angle glaucoma by 2020; it is likely that half of them will not even know they have it. African Americans are at higher risk for glaucoma, starting at a younger age. If someone in your family has glaucoma, you also have a higher risk for getting it.

Often called the thief of sight, glaucoma slowly and painlessly destroys the optic nerve the cable that connects your eye to your brain. For some people this damage can occur when the fluid in the front part of the eye builds up resulting in a high eye pressure. However, for many people damage from glaucoma can occur at low and normal eye pressures.

For the most part, glaucoma loss starts in your peripheral or side vision, which is why you might not notice it initially. A visual field test can detect those changes before you do. Early detection is important, because once that vision is lost we cannot get it back.

Thus, glaucoma management is all about prevention. Glaucoma is caused in part by the pressure in your eye being higher than what your eye can tolerate. We treat glaucoma by lowering the eye pressure. We can lower the pressure with prescription eye drops, laser, or surgery. The selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) procedure is an easy, safe and quick way to treat glaucoma in the office, that is covered by most insurances, and can often delay the need for costly drops or surgery. By catching and treating glaucoma early we are often able to prevent or delay vision loss. When caught and treated early enough, most people do not go blind from glaucoma.

An eye doctor will determine which medications and treatments are best suited for a patient, based on their individual case, medical history and current medication regimen.

Recently, there have been numerous advances in the treatment of glaucoma. In 2017, two new drug therapies were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These are the first new classes of glaucoma drops to hit the market in two decades.

The first is Vyzulta once per day eye drop. The second new eye drop, once-daily Rhopressa, is a novel mechanism of action designed to enhance fluid outflow and reduce the production of fluid in the eye in order to reduce IOP.

In addition to new drug advances, Micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) uses microscopic-sized equipment and tiny incisions, offering a safer and less invasive alternative than conventional glaucoma surgery with the potential benefit of reducing the patient's need to take drops.

For the first time in decades we have more tools to treat glaucoma patients than ever before.

Please see Dr. Myeni's feature on page 28.