Open angle glaucoma

One of the most frequent manifestations of glaucoma is open-angle glaucoma. This is the cause of blindness in 5 million people, which is more than 13% of all the blind on the planet. The disease has been developing asymptomatically for a long time, so if you are at risk, it should be examined from time to time and measured by intraocular pressure.

Causes of open-angle glaucoma

In a healthy eye, the internal pressure is always on the same level and does not fluctuate. This is achieved by regulating the inflow and outflow of the eye fluid. If the influx is stronger, or the outflow is slowed, the intraocular pressure rises and glaucoma develops. Open angle glaucoma accounts for 80% of all cases of glaucoma and is characterized by a dysfunction of the drainage system. At the same time, access to it is open, but difficult. As a result, the load on the optic nerve, the lens and other eye structures increases, the blood supply is disturbed and the first symptoms of open-angle glaucoma appear:

• tunnel vision (lateral vision is greatly reduced, or absent);
• sharp decrease in visual acuity ;
• deterioration of eye adaptation to darkness;
• spots and glare in front of the eyes, when looking at the light;
• headache;
• tiredness and tension of the eyes.

The most unpleasant thing is that when such signs of the disease make themselves felt, the change in the structure of the eye has already become irreversible, the primary open-angle glaucoma has passed into the second phase. It is important to diagnose the disease as early as possible in order to prevent further deterioration of vision and blindness, which without proper treatment occurs within 5-10 years. Here are the factors that increase the likelihood of the appearance of glaucoma:

• myopia;
• Myopia or glaucoma in one of the relatives;
• diabetes;
• systemic diseases - AIDS, autoimmune diseases;
• trauma to the eye;
• hormonal disorders;
• constant stress;
• strong and regular eye strain.

Treatment of open-angle glaucoma

The disease causes irreversible changes, so only surgery can cure open-angle glaucoma, returning to the patient some percentage of lost vision. Currently, surgical recovery of the eye is carried out in several large clinics of our country and abroad. But any operation is fraught with risk, so conservative treatment is still widely used to stop the further development of the disease. These are drops and tablets that artificially regulate the pressure in the eyes. Here are the most popular drugs:

• Pilocarpine;
• Timolol;
• Betaxolol;
• Diracard;
• Dorzolamide.