Glaucoma

General characteristic of a disease

It is accepted to understand the whole group of heavy ophthalmologic pathologies as the medical term "glaucoma". The name got a disease from the Greek word "" which literal translation designates "blue opacification of eyes". So exotic name of a disease is caused by a special color of a pupil. At glaucoma it becomes specific blue-green color, gets an expanded motionless state and leads to a total blindness.

Symptoms of glaucoma can be diagnosed for the person of any age. However with the largest frequency glaucoma occurs at elderly people. So, for example, cases of inborn glaucoma are diagnosed only for one child on 15-20 thousand children of the first months of life. At persons 75 years the diagnosed cases of glaucoma are more senior make already more than 3%.

Glaucoma reasons

At the moment in medical scientific community there is no consensus about the reasons and mechanisms of development of glaucoma. As one of versions the theory of influence of the increased intraocular pressure is considered.

It is considered that the systematic or periodically arising raised VGD can lead to trophic frustration in structure of an eye, to the disturbances of outflow of liquid and other complications causing defects of a retina and optic nerve at glaucoma.

Also the version about the multifactor nature of a disease of glaucoma is quite widespread. Rank as set of the factors causing glaucoma the hereditary reasons, anomalies of a structure of organs of sight, injuries, pathologies of nervous, vascular and endocrine systems.

According to this theory, the summing-up action of all or several above the listed factors can start the mechanism of development of glaucoma.

Glaucoma symptoms

Under the term "glaucoma" more than 60 various types of a disease are combined with specific symptoms. Glaucoma of any of these types, first of all, is characterized by defeat of fibers of optic nerves. Over time process passes into a stage of a full atrophy of visual function.

The earliest symptom of glaucoma is bad outflow of intraocular liquid from an eyeglobe. After it deterioration in blood supply of tissues of eye, a hypoxia and ischemia of optic nerves develops. Shortage of oxygen to eye tissues as one of symptoms of glaucoma, leads to gradual destruction and an atrophy of visual fibers.

Part of them can be in a condition of a so-called parabiosis (dream). It allows to recover functions of an eye at timely begun treatment of glaucoma.

Types of glaucoma

Inborn glaucoma is most often genetically predetermined or caused by the postponed pre-natal infections. Symptoms of glaucoma of this look are demonstrated in the first weeks of life. The child is born with the high intraocular pressure, bilateral increase in a cornea or all eyeglobe. In use inborn glaucoma is called sometimes a hydrophthalmos or an ox-eye.

Juvenile or juvenile glaucoma is diagnosed for children 3 years are more senior. In late cases of manifestation of symptoms of glaucoma the disease can be shown up to 35 years. At more advanced age the diagnosed glaucoma is already called as adult and can be primary or secondary.

It is accepted to understand the opacification of a pupil and signs of an atrophy of an optic nerve which became a complication of other ophthalmologic disease as secondary glaucoma.

Types and stages of primary glaucoma

Primary glaucoma – the most widespread kind of a disease. She is closed-angle and open-angle.

Refer slow progressing of a disease, lack of any unpleasant feelings at the patient to clinical symptoms of glaucoma of open-angle type, emergence of effect of iridescent circles at a late stage of a disease and gradual opacification of sight. The open angle glaucoma, as a rule, affects both eyes at once, but develops asymmetrically (at various speed on both eyes).

Closed-angle glaucoma is more often diagnosed for women as the contributing factors to this type of a disease are the small sizes of an eye. Refer existence of bad attacks of loss of sight to symptoms of glaucoma of this type. Under the influence of nervous shocks, overfatigue or long work in an uncomfortable position during an attack there is sharp opacification of sight, eye pain, nausea, vomiting can be observed. Then at the patient there comes the condition of a preglaukoma with the period of rather normal sight.

Depending on degree of manifestation of a disease of glaucoma allocate glaucoma of four stages:

• Characteristic symptom of glaucoma of the first (initial) stage - normal limits of sight with small distortion of peripheral sight.
• Symptom of glaucoma of the second or developed stage – the expressed disturbances of side sight and the general narrowing of a field of vision.
• At the third far come glaucoma stage preservation only of separate segments of a field of vision acts as a symptom of a disease.
• The fourth end-stage of glaucoma is characterized by a total blindness.

Diagnosis of glaucoma

Efficiency of treatment of glaucoma depends on timely diagnosis of a disease. The leading value in it has definition of indicators of intracranial pressure by means of a tonometriya or an elastotonomeriya. Quality of outflow of intraocular liquid at glaucoma is studied by means of use of an electronic tonografiya.

High value in diagnosis of a disease have also a perimetry method for measurement of limits of sight, and also a gonioskopiya. By means of the last called method structures of an anterior chamber of an eye are investigated. Use of the scanning laser oftalmoskopiya allows to find out high-quality and quantitative disturbances in structure of optic nerves.

Each of these methods высокоинформативен therefore in dynamic observation of efficiency of treatment of glaucoma only one of them can be applied.

Treatment of glaucoma

Treatment of glaucoma can be medicamentous or surgical. Glaucoma operations, in turn happen also two types: traditional, carried out by means of a microsurgical scalpel or laser.

The basis for drug treatment of glaucoma is made by three directions:

• therapy on decrease in intraocular pressure,
• improvement of blood supply of optic nerves and internal covers of an eye,
• normalization of metabolism in eye tissues.

Oftalmogipotenzivny therapy (decrease in VGD) has the leading role in drug treatment of glaucoma. Two other directions have auxiliary character. For example, use a natural vegetable complex from doctor Pankov for treatment of diseases of organs of sight.

Use of conservative treatment of glaucoma is shown only at early stages diseases. At glaucoma of the III-IV degree and inefficiency of medicamentous therapy in removal of a bad attack carrying out surgery is recommended.

Laser glaucoma operation allows to eliminate obstacles for outflow of intraocular liquid. The technique of laser operation at glaucoma assumes use of the technology of corectomy or a trabekuloplastika. Their essence in creation of microexplosion for a local rupture of fabrics or in drawing a burn with the subsequent scarring.

Carry the small period of rehabilitation, out-patient conditions and a local anesthesia to advantages of laser operation at glaucoma during use of a technique. Limitation of effect is considered the main lack of laser operations at glaucoma. At a stage of mature glaucoma only radical surgery is applied.

The disease is treated surgically by means of several types of techniques:

• trabekulektomiya,
• scleroticectomies,
• corectomies,
• iridotsikloretraktion, etc.

There is no uniform standard in use of this or that type of operation at glaucoma. In each case the type of operation at glaucoma is chosen individually.

National treatment of glaucoma

Prevalence of a disease led to emergence of a huge number of techniques of national treatment of glaucoma. Part of them, for example, clinical nutrition, use of sunglasses, respiratory gymnastics, air procedures are welcomed by official medicine.

Also the recommendations of national treatment of glaucoma urging not to incline whenever possible the head are considered as lawful:

• not to wash the floor,
• not to erase,
• not to weed,
• not to lift weight, etc.

However it is also necessary to recognize that folk remedies the official medicine looks at many methods of treatment of glaucoma skeptically: whether it be infusions from a duckweed, a wood louse, a lotion with juice scarlet, a honey instillation in eyes, etc.