Glaucoma: An Overview
This disease can be developed or inherited; it usually refers to the accumulation of fluid inside a person's eyes leading to excessive pressure on his or her optic nerve.

How to Diagnose the Symptoms of Glaucoma-

A Fundamental Eye Examination: An experienced eye doctor will check the dilated pupils of your eyes so as to take a closer look at the optic nerve that further discerns the stage of glaucoma a patient is in. Doctors tend to keep track on the sequential progression of glaucoma and its specific mode of treatment through pictures of the optic nerve taken during an examination.

Tonometry may also be performed:Signs of Glaucoma may be spotted through the procedure called tonometry where the doctor will test a person's eye pressure and so on so forth. A visual field test might also be conducted to check if the patient can see things at the periphery of his line of vision. 

Symptoms that will help a doctor identify this condition in people:-

A loss of peripheral vision is experienced in the early stages of glaucoma.
A person may see halos when in the presence of bright lights.
Your eyes could turn red.
Hazy or blurry vision is a problem faced by young children affected with glaucoma.
Glaucoma could be accompanied by headaches and eye pain.
An affected person might repeatedly feel nauseous.
Ways to Treat Glaucoma:-

Microsurgery can effectively treat Glaucoma: Microsurgery can be performed in various ways. There is one way in which a channel is made to pump out the fluid creating extra pressure on the optic nerve. This method is referred to as trabeculectomy.

Eye Drops: Eye drops can relieve you from painful glaucoma. They are known to control the formation of excess fluid in a person's eye. In some cases, they can induce the accumulating fluid to flow out of the patient's eyes.

Laser Treatment: Laser surgeries can be undertaken to get rid of glaucoma. Laser can help in moving out fluid from the eyes of the affected person. It successfully hinders fluid blockage as well. There are different kinds of laser treatments available to cure glaucoma.

Diagnosis and Treatment for Glaucoma

7 Easy ways to get relief from computer eye strain

Do you spend long hours in front of the computer? If you do, you may be experiencing eye strain on a regular basis. Eye strain is a common problem and is characterised by fatigue, decreased productivity, red eyes and eye twitching. You can get rid of eye strain by making use of any one of these simple tips. 

1. Ensure that your workplace has correct lighting
Often eye strain occurs as a result of improper lighting. This can be caused by exposure to bright sunlight coming in from the windows and doors or excessively dazzling indoor lights. You can avoid extra lights by keeping blinds or shades closed and by avoiding high-intensity bulbs or fluorescent lights. Alternatively, opting for incandescent or halogen lighting can be beneficial.

2. Minimise glare
You can install an anti-glare screen on the monitor of your computer to minimise glare. Keep the windows covered to reduce glare caused by outdoor sources.

3. Modify the display settings of your computer
You can modify the display settings of your computer in the following manner to reduce eye strain:
• Brightness-Set the brightness of the display to a level, which equals the brightness of your workplace.
• Text size and contrast-Modify the text size and contrast according to the comfort level of your eyes. For most people, black text colour on a white background ensures minimum eye strain and maximum convenience.
• Colour temperature- The spectrum of visible light, which a colour display usually emits is its colour temperature. Blue light is considered to cause more eye strain. So, you should decrease the colour temperature to minimize the amount of blue light emitted by your computer’s display.

4. Try some eye exercises
You can practise some easy eye exercises to prevent your eyes from getting tired. Try staring at a distant object for 10-15 seconds and then looking at any nearby object for another 10-15 seconds. Return your gaze to the first object. Repeat 10 times.

5. Opt for some computer eyewear while working
Try wearing a pair of computer glasses while working. They ensure that your eyes remain correctly focussed on the computer screen, while reducing strain to a minimum. Computer glasses also prove to be very effective in diminishing glare. 

6. Take short breaks at regular intervals
Apply the 20-20 rule to your work regime. After each 20 minutes of work on the computer, give your eyes a 20 second break by looking away from the screen towards any object located 20 feet away from you.

7. Go for a comprehensive eye exam
Make sure that you go for a comprehensive eye exam every year to reduce vision problems caused by computers. This will also help in detecting the root cause behind your problem, so that you can effectively employ curative or preventive measures to control eye strain.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'Consult'.

7 Easy Ways to Get Relief from EveryDay Computer Eye Strain

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in people across the globe. It damages the optic nerve that carries sensory images from the retina to the brain. A faulty eye pressure is responsible for damaging the very delicate optic nerve fiber causing small blind spots in the retina. Unfortunately, for most patients this disease only gets diagnosed when the number of blind spots is on the higher side.

Types of Glaucoma

Open angle: This is a type of Glaucoma which results from the blockage of the drainage angle of the eye resulting into an increased eye pressure.
Angle closure: This is the kind of Glaucoma which results from the narrowing down of the drainage angle leading to complete blockage.
Target segment of Glaucoma

Family history: Inheritance surely plays a role in case of Glaucoma too. If Glaucoma runs through families of an individual, there are higher chances of getting this disease. Although there is no hard and fast rule about it, the risks of inheriting this disease are on the higher side.
Eye injury: If there is any history of previous eye injuries, the probability of the onset of Glaucoma cannot be turned down. Specially, if the injury is related to optic nerve, there are very high risks involved.
Bilateral Oophorectomy: Dual Ovary removal before the age of 40 results in deficiency of estrogen resulting in Glaucoma. Although most surgeons warn their patients of the possible risk of these procedures, many surgeries such as these have resulted in patients losing eyesight in the form of Glaucoma.
Patient with Diabetes: In case of acute diabetes, retina gets damaged and the eye starts producing new blood vessels on the iris resulting into an increased eye pressure. This condition often leads to Glaucoma due to blockage of fluid flow in the eye.
Eye Conditions: Myopia, multiple surgeries to the eye, blunt trauma etc. can lead to Glaucoma. A patient who has undergone any kind of eye surgeries suffers from inflammation. However, major inflammation is often found twisting blood flow in the eye resulting into Glaucoma.
If a patient is 40 or above: After a person reaches 40 years of age, a lot of diseases start cropping in to the body. Studies show that Glaucoma has a higher frequency in people who is more than the age of 40 or above.
High eye pressure: A patient with an eye pressure of above 21 mm HG is also at a very high risk of getting glaucoma. For a normal person the IOP lies between 10 to 21 mm HG.
Blood flow related disease: Diseases such as acute migraine, hypertension and low blood pressure which involves blood flow related problem often aggravate to glaucoma.
Ethnic Background: Statistics show that people from Afro American, Hispanics, Asian and Caribbean background have greater chances of being affected by Glaucoma.

Glaucoma - Are You at Risk?

High blood pressure can lead to hypertension, which is known to cause a variety of debilitating side effects or symptoms in the life of the patient. It can also lead to a number of related ailments which can affect the various organs of the body. The eyes are one of the organs that are most susceptible to this kind of spike in the body s blood pressure. Let us learn more about the connection between the two.

Retina: When high blood pressure goes untreated for a prolonged period, it can easily start to affect the blood vessels that can be found in the retina. The retina is the third or the inner most layer of the eye which is sensitive towards light and usually helps in refraction. This is where the light reaches so that one can focus clearly on an image. When the blood pressure of the patient stays high for a prolonged basis, there is significant pressure on the blood vessels in this part of the eye which can lead to an eye disease known as hypertensive retinopathy.

Symptoms: Symptoms of this eye disease include lack of clarity and focus when the eye comes to rest on an object, as well as headaches and other vision problems that typically spring from eye strain that one will go through while trying to focus even harder. It may be seen that the symptoms do not appear in the very early stages of this disease.

Diagnosis: The diagnosis of the condition is usually done by an ophthalmologist who will use an ophthalmoscope in order to project light towards the specific part of the eye so that the back of the eyeballs can be examined. The signs that the doctor will look for during the examination include narrowing of the blood vessels in this part of the eye, inflammation of the macula which is the central portion of the retina, and bleeding in the back of the eye. Also, the doctor will check for spots in the retina with the help of cotton swabs and exudates.

Treatment: The best and only way of treating this condition is by keeping one s blood pressure in control with the help of medication prescribed by the doctor.

Prevention: There are many ways of preventing the onset of this disease, including losing weight so that there is less pressure on the body. Also, one must stick to a healthy diet and exercise regularly after taking recommendations on the appropriate exercises from the doctor. Additionally, it is also important to see a doctor on a regular basis so that there is constant monitoring and regulation of the medicines and the blood pressure.

Blood Pressure - How it Affects Your Eye Sight?

10 surprising facts about your eyes

You never tend to pay a lot of attention to your eyes unless they are affected by some serious disorder or unless your vision is disrupted. But did you know that your eyes are capable of doing much more than you can imagine? here are 10 surprising facts about your eyes you didn't know about.

1. How intricate!

Your eyes take more than 2 million working parts to function. No wonder your eyes are the second most complex organ of your body after your brain.

2. A lot depends on them

As much as 80% of your memories are determined by what you see. Also, 80% of what you learn is because of your eyes.

3. Retina and security

The iris of your eyes has approximately 256 unique characteristics, which is more than even your fingerprints. This is the reason why retina scans are used so widely today for security purposes.

4. It's a colourful world

Your eyes can distinguish between approximately 10 million different colours. And women with a particular kind of genetic mutation can see millions of more colours.

5. Upside-down

The retina of your eyes receives the vision of the outside world as upside down. It is your brain, which flips the image for you so that you can see the world as it is.

6. Sunscreen for the eyes?

It is possible for your eyes to get sunburnt. Therefore, it is advisable for you to wear sunglasses in order to protect your eyes from the ultraviolet radiations.

7. Godspeed!

The eye muscle is the muscle that reacts at the fastest rate out of all the other muscles in your body. It can contract in less than even 1/100th of a second.

8. Paint it red?

The retina of your eyes cannot detect the red colour. The retinas do have green, red and blue receptors, but the red receptor can detect only the colour yellow-green and the green one can recognise blue-green. It is your brain that combines these signals to give you the impression of the colour red.

9. Dreams and sight

Even if you become blind later in life, you can see images in your dreams if you were born with sight.

10. We are blink-eyed peas

You blink approximately 17 times every minute. That makes it 5.2 million times in a year.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: Sitting Too Close To TV Will Weaken Your Eyes? FALSE.

Surprise Yourself with these 10 Facts about Your EYES!

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases characterised by damage to optic nerve usually due to excessively high intra ocular pressure (eye pressure). If left untreated can lead to optic nerve damage resulting in progressive, permanent vision loss. Glaucoma usually affects people above the age of 40, but can affect younger people as well. This condition causes fluid to build up in the eye, which puts pressure on the optic nerve. 

There are broadly two types of glaucoma - Open angle glaucoma ( more common in elderly) and angle closure glaucoma.
Women are more likely to suffer from glaucoma than men are. Ethnicity also plays an important role in determining the risk of suffering from this condition. East Asian and African Americans have a high risk of glaucoma, as they have a shallow, anterior chamber depth. Some of the other conditions that can increase a person s risk of glaucoma are:

Diabetes
Hypothyroidism
Myopia
An earlier eye surgery
Retinal detachment
Tumours
Injury to the eye
Long term corticosteroid medication
If diagnosed early enough, glaucoma can be treated and its effects can be reduced. However, the damage already caused by glaucoma cannot be reversed. The aim of glaucoma treatment is to either reduce the production of fluid in the eye or improve its flow. This helps slow down the progression of this disease and prevents any further loss of vision. Glaucoma treatment usually takes the form of eye drops or surgery.

Eye drops are the first step towards treating glaucoma. There are many different types of eye drops. Prostaglandin analogues aim at increasing the flow of fluid out of the eye and are usually prescribed in cases of swelling around the rim of the eyes, darkening of the iris and blurred vision. Beta-blockers can also help lower the secretion of fluids in the eye.

Patients who are also suffering from diabetes or lung conditions such as bronchitis may be prescribed cholinergic agents, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors or sympathomimetic drugs. Cholinergic agents help improve the outward flow of fluid in the eyes while Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors reduce fluid production in the eyes. Sympathomimetic drugs do both reduce the production of fluids and improve outflow.

If the eye drops are not effective, surgery may be advised to lower the pressure built up in the eye. Some of the common types of surgery for glaucoma are:

Trabeculoplasty: This procedure involves directing a high-energy laser beam into the eye to open clogged drainage canals. The surgery has high success rates but the problem may recur after surgery.
Filtering surgery: This involves creating an opening in the eye and removing a part of the trabecular meshwork, thus allowing fluid to flow outwards.
Drainage implants: Children or patients with secondary glaucoma may be treated with this surgery where a small silicone tube is placed in the eye to aid in fluid drainage.

Glaucoma - Factors That Put You Risk!

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