What Are The Main Types Of Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is also called “sneak thief of sight”. This eye disease covers a wide range of people, doesn’t have any signs before the onset of it, and cannot be cured. Our previous article About Glaucoma has generally introduced the symptoms and causes of glaucoma. In this read, two main types of glaucoma will be introduced.

Two Main Types Of Glaucoma

Based on World Report on Vision provided by World Health Organization (WHO), there are 76 million people with glaucoma in 2020 as estimated. Pathologically increased intraocular pressure (IOP) is a major risk factor for glaucoma. IOP leads to optic nerve damage through two mechanisms: mechanical compression and optic nerve ischemia. However, it’s not the only reason that can cause glaucoma. Age, race, family medical history, nearsightedness, specific diseases, and other factors could all put you at risk. To understand glaucoma more, this section will introduce two main types of this eye disease.

Primary open-angle glaucoma

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common type of glaucoma. It doesn’t have any early symptoms or feelings until the vision starts to lose. The cause of POAG is usually related to the high IOP. Typically, our eyes need to eliminate waste fluid to maintain normal functions. The IOP would rise when the eyes cannot release the wastes and the fluid might be clogged in the eyes.

Acute angle-closure glaucoma

Acute angle-closure glaucoma ranks top 2 in the list of the most common glaucoma types. Differing from POAG, the cause of this kind of eye disease is due to the rapid elevation of IOP, and it’s relatively more infrequent than POAG. Acute angle-closure glaucoma occurs accompanying a variety of symptoms: blurred vision, headaches, eye pain, nausea, and sudden vision loss. If you experience these symptoms, it’s crucial to meet your eye doctor immediately to have your eyes checked.

Protect Your Eyes From Glaucoma

The influence of glaucoma is irreversible, and people can only realize it when it's getting serious. This is the reason that ophthalmological experts emphasize the necessity of early recognition. Some of the measures in the following paragraphs are designed to protect your eyes from glaucoma as much as possible.

Regular Eye Exams

The exams including glaucoma tests help people escape from the severe negative consequences of glaucoma and other eye conditions. Meanwhile, professionals indicate that with early catch, doctors can apply effective medical means to treat glaucoma, which could be likely to control the symptoms of glaucoma and maintain the vision function of the patients for their entire life.

Monitor blood pressure

As it’s mentioned several times, the main reason that causes glaucoma is the high pressure of the eye. People with hypertension, therefore, are at high risk of glaucoma as well. In this way, monitoring blood pressure can help not only observe body health but also find out the risk of glaucoma eye as early as possible. Once the patients notice abnormal blood pressure, they are supposed to communicate with the doctors and have appropriate examinations timely.

Know the family history of glaucoma

A family history of the disease might be one of the contributing factors to glaucoma. As a hereditary disease, there are plenty of people around the world suffering from glaucoma. People who have a family history of glaucoma possess a higher possibility to get the disease. Knowing the family history of glaucoma can remind people to pay more attention to glaucoma symptoms and do eye exams regularly.

Proper exercises

Getting into the habit of doing exercises directs to innumerable benefits. Exercising is helpful for diminishing potential sub-health issues by having a healthy body. It can be considered as a part of glaucoma treatment, which could decrease the risk of diabetes or hypertension in case to prevent glaucoma. Before developing your exercise habit, don’t forget to talk to your doctor in advance to make a suitable exercise plan.

Glaucoma can cause blindness as a grave consequence, and it’s also one of the leading reasons of blindness. Thus, any slight changes of your eyes should not be ignored. Share the article and let your loved one know more about glaucoma from now on: What Are The Main Types Of Glaucoma?