Glaucoma
Glaucoma - The Silent Cause of Vision Loss
Currently, we no longer treat glaucoma. We specialize in LASIK and PRK.
Did you know that over 66.8 million people world wide and over 2.2 million people in the United States have glaucoma? Nearly 120,000 people are blind from this disease. The number of people with glaucoma may be much higher since many people with glaucoma are unaware they have the disease. There are often no initial symptoms until the glaucoma produces severe and irreversible vision loss. This is the real danger of the disease.
Anyone can get glaucoma. Those people with higher risk are people who have diabetes, a family member with glaucoma, any previous eye surgery, near-sightedness, African or Hispanic descent, or are over the age of 50. However, it is important to stress that even low risk individuals should have their eyes checked routinely.
What is glaucoma? Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases in which a high pressure in the eye damages the nerves that allow us to see. The elevated pressure in your eye causes a backup of fluid that damages the optic nerve. The optic nerve carries visual images to your brain. Damage to your nerves is irreversible.
In order to understand how pressure affects your eyes, think of a balloon. When too much pressure is in the balloon, the pressure builds and the balloon pops. However, your eye is too strong to pop so instead the pressure pushes on the optic nerve and causes damage. This increased pressure compresses the optic nerve cells causing them to die.
View of La Jolla Sunset in Normal Person
At the San Diego Lasik Institute, there is advanced imaging to detect early changes to the optic nerve. Early diagnosis of Glaucoma is essential to the treatment of glaucoma. Since vision loss is irreversible, it is very important to recognize and screen for glaucoma early.
Once detected, the treatment for glaucoma is much better than the days of our grandparents and parents. We have new medications that effectively lower the eye’s pressure to protect the optic nerve. For patients with advanced glaucoma, new laser and surgical treatments have helped many patients.
Glaucoma is a silent cause of vision loss and people over the age of 50 should be screened regularly. Early detection of glaucoma can protect your precious sight and vision. Dr. Tony Pham recommends that all patients over the age of 50 have regular eye examinations to screen for glaucoma.
Please contact us for a glaucoma examination 619-298-2733
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