Information on the Eye and Glaucoma from the Glaucoma Foundation
The first step in understanding glaucoma is to know a few basic facts about the eye and how it works. With this information, it will be easier to discuss you condition and treatment with your eye doctor. Working together, you and your doctor will be able to act as a team to protect your vision. Read more from the Glaucoma Foundation.
Information on Glaucoma from NIH Senior Health
Glaucoma is a group of diseases that can damage the eye's optic nerve and result in vision loss and blindness. While glaucoma can strike anyone, the risk is much greater for people over 60.
Glaucoma can develop in one or both eyes. The most common type of glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma, has no symptoms at first. It causes no pain, and vision seems normal. Although open-angle glaucoma cannot be cured, it can usually be controlled. The most common treatments for glaucoma are medication and surgery. Read more at the National Eye Institute.
Mayo Clinic on Glaucoma
Read Information on Glaucoma from Mayoclinic.com.
Glaucoma: Essentials from Consumer Reports
What is it? What are the symptoms? How common is it? What will happen? Key points about treatments from Consumer Reports.
Treating Glaucoma with Medical Marijuana
There has been wide-ranging public discussion on the potential medical uses of marijuana, particularly smoked marijuana. To contribute to the resolution of the debate, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a 2-day scientific meeting on February 19-20, 1997, to review the scientific data concerning the potential therapeutic uses for marijuana and the need for and feasibility of additional research. In glaucoma, there does not appear to be any obvious reason to use smoked marijuana as a primary " stand alone" investigational therapy, as there are many available agents for treatment, and these topical preparations seem to be potentially ideal. An approach that may be useful is to study smoked marijuana in incomplete responders to standard therapies. Read more at the NIH.
Simulated progression of vision loss in Glaucoma
Progression of glaucoma symptoms as seen through the eyes of a patient. View the pictures at the America Health Assistance Foundation.
Quiz: Glaucoma - How much do you know?
Fifty million Americans are at risk for vision loss from glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness in the United States. Are you one of them? If you are, do you know how to reduce your risk of blindness? To determine how high your Eye-Q is, answer the following questions about glaucoma ay the National Eye Institute.
Video: Coping with Glaucoma
3 min 07 sec video available from NIH Senior Health
Video: Early Diagnosis, Timely Treatment
2 min 58 sec video available from NIH Senior Health
Video: What is Glaucoma
2 min 23 sec video available from NIH Senior Health
Screening for Glaucoma - recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force
The USPSTF found good evidence that screening can detect increased intraocular pressure (IOP) and early primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in adults. The USPSTF also found good evidence that early treatment of adults with increased IOP detected by screening reduces the number of persons who develop small, visual field defects, and that early treatment of those with early, asymptomatic POAG decreases the number of those whose visual field defects progress. The evidence, however, is insufficient to determine the extent to which screening--leading to the earlier detection and treatment of people with IOP or POAG--would reduce impairment in vision-related function or quality of life. View the major recommendations at the National Guideline Clearinghouse.
Primary open-angle glaucoma.
The comprehensive initial glaucoma evaluation (history and physical examination) includes all components of the comprehensive adult eye evaluation (Preferred Practice Patterns Committee, 2005) in the addition to and with special attention to those factors that specifically bear upon the diagnosis, course, and treatment of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Completion of the evaluation may require more than one visit. View the major recommendations at the National Guideline Clearinghouse.
Full Text: Aerobic exercise and intraocular pressure in normotensive and glaucoma patients
With the increasing number of people participating in physical aerobic exercise, jogging in particular, we considered that it would be worth knowing if there are should be limits to the exercise with regard to the intraocular pressure (IOP) of the eyes. The purpose of this study is to check IOP in healthy and primary glaucoma patients after aerobic exercise. View the free full text at Pubmed.
Abstract: Common variants on chromosome 2 and risk of primary open-angle glaucoma in the Afro-Caribbean population of Barbados.
Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. Although a number of genetic loci have shown association or genetic linkage to monogenic forms of POAG, the identified genes and loci do not appear to have a major role in the common POAG phenotype. We seek to identify genetic loci that appear to be major risk factors for POAG in the Afro-Caribbean population of Barbados, West Indies. View the abstract at Pubmed.
Full Text: The Importance of Eyelid Closure and Nasolacrimal Occlusion Following the Ocular Instillation of Topical Glaucoma Medications, and the Need for the Universal Inclusion of One of these Techniques in All Patient Treatments and Clinical Studies
Purpose: To review the effects of nasolacrimal occlusion (NLO) and eyelid closure (ELC) on the ocular and systemic absorption of topically applied glaucoma medications and emphasize the need for the universal application of these techniques during patient treatment and in clinical studies of topically applied glaucoma medications. View the free full text at Pubmed.
Full Text: Prevalence of Open Angle Glaucoma in Accompanying First Degree Relatives of Patients with Glaucoma
The eye examination of first-degree relatives identified a significant percentage of individuals with glaucoma. Despite being first-degree relatives of glaucoma patients, 56.4% of the companions had never had their eye pressure measured, demonstrating a lack of awareness about this disease. View the free full text at Pubmed.
Full Text: The Medical and Surgical Treatment of Glaucoma
The goal of glaucoma treatment is to protect the patient from blindness and visual impairment while keeping the treatment-related decline in quality of life to a minimum. Any type of glaucoma treatment, be it medical or surgical, must further this aim in consideration of the situation of the individual patient. View the free full text at Pubmed.
Full Text: Diagnostic Tools for Glaucoma Detection and Management
Early diagnosis of glaucoma is critical to prevent permanent structural damage and irreversible vision loss. Detection of glaucoma typically relies on examination of structural damage to the optic nerve combined with measurements of visual function. This article will review current literature on diagnostic modalities available for glaucoma with emphasis on the best evidence available in the literature to support their use in clinical practice. View the free full text at Pubmed.
Free Full Text: Glaucoma Alters the Circadian Timing System
Glaucoma is a widespread ocular disease and major cause of blindness characterized by progressive, irreversible damage of the optic nerve. Although the degenerative loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and visual deficits associated with glaucoma have been extensively studied, we hypothesize that glaucoma will also lead to alteration of the circadian timing system. Our findings demonstrate that glaucoma impacts on all these aspects of the circadian timing system. In light of these results, the classical view of glaucoma as pathology unique to the visual system should be extended to include anatomical and functional alterations of the circadian timing system. View the free full text at Pubmed.
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To find out who the top doctors are around the country, nonprofit Consumers' CHECKBOOK surveyed roughly 340,000 physicians to tell us which specialists they would want to care for a loved one. The Top Doctors database contains the names of over 23,000 doctors who were mentioned most often. Find top-rated doctors in the fifty largest metropolitan areas, in over thirty-five specialties, and more.
Glaucoma Essential Facts Booklet
Source: American Health Assistance Foundation
Surgery to treat Glaucoma
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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As seen by a person with glaucoma
Source: National Eye Institute
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We've got 30 million answers to that question. That's how many hospital records Consumers' CHECKBOOK sifted through to calculate risk-adjusted death rates and adverse-outcome rates, and that's just part of the data used to rate the hospitals. The organization also sent out more than 280,000 questionnaires to physicians in 53 major metropolitan areas in the United States, asking them to rate their local hospitals; checked ratings of the hospitals by surveyed consumers; checked which hospitals were providing recommended tests and procedures for patients with specified medical problems; and more."
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