Can glaucoma be cured? Are you sure you are not being "cheated"?

If someone tells you that glaucoma can be cured now, it is definitely not true! With the development of medicine, although many diseases have been effectively controlled, glaucoma, as the world's leading irreversible blinding eye disease, still cannot be cured.

Glaucoma is commonly known as the "thief of vision" because it has no obvious symptoms in the early stages and causes irreversible visual function damage. What we can do is to be alert to it, understand it, screen early, detect early, diagnose early, treat early, and protect our visual function as much as possible.

Why do people get glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a blinding eye disease caused by an abnormal increase in intraocular pressure (intraocular pressure), which exceeds the limit that the optic nerve can withstand, resulting in visual field defects, vision loss, and optic nerve atrophy.

Everyone's intraocular pressure is different, and the normal value of intraocular pressure varies from person to person, which brings some difficulties to the early identification of glaucoma. The treatment also varies from person to person and is personalized.

Will you go blind if you have glaucoma? Of course not! Although in clinical practice, glaucoma is considered a fast-moving train that cannot be stopped. However, as long as it is detected and treated early, and regular, timely and correct follow-up examinations are carried out, the progression of glaucoma can be slowed down, and most glaucoma patients can maintain useful vision throughout their lives.

What should I do if I have glaucoma?

At the current level of medical technology, glaucoma cannot be cured fundamentally, it can only be controlled. To avoid blindness caused by glaucoma, two major treatment principles must be followed: lowering intraocular pressure and protecting the optic nerve.

Treatment is through drugs, lasers and microsurgery. During the treatment, intraocular pressure, fundus and visual field need to be checked regularly. In particular, good control of intraocular pressure can reduce the risk of optic nerve damage and slow the progression of the disease.

In daily life, patients should avoid fatigue, staying up late, looking at mobile phones and computers for a long time, and avoid emotional fluctuations such as irritability and anxiety.

How to differentiate glaucoma?

Glaucoma can be divided into three categories: primary, secondary and congenital. Primary glaucoma is divided into angle-closure glaucoma and open-angle glaucoma according to the state of the anterior chamber angle at the time of onset. Angle-closure glaucoma is further divided into acute angle-closure glaucoma and chronic angle-closure glaucoma according to the rapidity of onset.

Primary open-angle glaucoma: The vast majority of patients have no obvious symptoms, the anterior chamber angle is always open, and the intraocular pressure can be elevated or normal. This is called normal-tension glaucoma. When not accompanied by other eye diseases, vision is mostly good. Therefore, if it is not screened early and closely observed, it is very easy to miss the diagnosis, and it is often not discovered until the late stage of the disease when visual function is severely damaged.

Acute angle-closure glaucoma: due to the sudden narrowing or closure of the intraocular angle (drainage outlet), the aqueous humor cannot be discharged in time, and the intraocular pressure rises sharply, which manifests as sudden onset of severe eye swelling, eye pain, photophobia, sudden decrease in vision, tearing, headache, hard eyeball, nausea and vomiting, etc. After the acute attack, the optic nerve enters the chronic stage of continuous damage, until the vision drops to no light perception and enters the absolute stage that cannot be reversed.

Chronic angle-closure glaucoma: often caused by emotional excitement, visual fatigue, excessive use of eyes and brain, etc., manifested as dry eyes, fatigue and discomfort, distension and pain, blurred vision or decreased vision, halo vision, dizziness and pain, insomnia, and high blood pressure, which can be relieved after rest.

Secondary glaucoma: caused by other diseases, such as eye trauma, diabetes, neovascularization, etc., may be accompanied by symptoms such as red eyes, eye pain, eye swelling, and tearing.

Congenital glaucoma: The symptoms are obvious enlargement and protrusion of the eyeball after birth, and the transparency of the black pupil decreases, like the eyes of a cow, also known as "bull eyes". There may be symptoms such as photophobia, tearing, frequent rubbing of the eyes, irritability and crying.

Who are the groups at high risk of glaucoma?

(1) Those with a family history of glaucoma;

(2) Aged 40 or above;

(3) Suffering from systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, nephritis, and abnormal thyroid function;

(4) Patients with other eye diseases related to glaucoma, such as high myopia, high hyperopia, cataract, eye trauma, eye inflammation, eye tumor, etc.;

(5) Personality and psychological factors such as high mental stress, frequent and drastic changes in negative emotions;

(6) Staying in a dark room or reading for too long, becoming overly tired, etc.

Friendly reminder: If you have a family history of glaucoma, a history of attacks (headaches, eye pain, halo vision, blurred vision), or atypical symptoms (often transient or recurrent episodes of foggy vision, halo vision, forehead pain, soreness and swelling at the root of the nose, etc., more common in the evening, similar to visual fatigue), etc., you must be alert to the occurrence of glaucoma and visit a professional ophthalmology hospital in time.

Source: Aier Eye Hospital