Early Detection and Expert Treatment of Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can potentially cause irreversible vision loss if you don’t treat it in its earliest stages. Glaucoma damages your optic nerve and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness for men and women over the age of 60. There are different types of glaucoma, but they each involve an excess of fluid in the eye that puts pressure on the optic nerve:

Primary open-angle glaucoma

Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common type of the disease. It is painless and doesn’t cause any changes in vision at first. If your eye doesn’t drain fluid efficiently, the fluid builds up and leads to increased eye pressure. Over time, this added pressure begins to damage your optic nerve.

Acute angle-closure glaucoma

Acute angle-closure glaucoma, or closed-angle glaucoma, is less common. It happens when your iris is too close to the drainage angle in your eye. If your iris blocks the drainage angle, eye pressure increases. This could happen quickly in an acute attack, and it is a serious emergency. If you don’t receive immediate medical attention, you could lose your sight.

Open-angle glaucoma typically causes patchy blind spots in your peripheral vision, or in your central vision in both eyes. In more advanced stages of the disease, you may have tunnel vision.

With acute angle-closure glaucoma, if it occurs suddenly, you may experience:

• A severe headache or eye pain
• Blurred vision in one eye
• Nausea and vomiting
• Redness in the affected eye
• Rainbow-colored halos around lights

If you experience any of these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention. Regularly scheduled eye exams are the best way to detect and treat glaucoma before it causes permanent damage to your eyes.

Because there is no cure for glaucoma, treatment is a lifelong commitment. The goal of treatment is to lower the pressure in your eye to prevent damage to your optic nerve. Depending on your individual symptoms and condition, Dr. Ghobrial may prescribe eye drops to decrease fluid production in your eye, oral medications, surgery, or laser therapies.

If he determines you will benefit from it, Dr. Ghobrial performs selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) using an advanced laser system to target specific cells in your eye. SLT helps your body heal itself and lowers your intraocular eye pressure.

If you haven’t had an eye exam in a long time, and you have family members with glaucoma, you could be at risk. Call to schedule a comprehensive eye exam or request the next available appointment online.