Glaucoma second cause of blindness worldwide

The glaucoma is an alteration of the fibers of the optic nerve, produced by the increase of the Intraocular pressure , which causes a decrease in the visual field; is chronic, progressive and irreversible and represents the second cause of blindness in the world, said the doctor Gloria López-Ruíz , specialist of Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS)

Ruíz Sandoval, attached to the Glaucoma Service of the Specialties Hospital, National Medical Center Siglo XXI, indicated that the glaucoma it is an asymptomatic disease (it does not present symptoms), which affects mainly people over 40 years of age, with a family history of the disease, for living with diabetes and hypertension .

In Mexico, the IMSS expert said that 1 million 200 thousand Mexicans suffer from it. The frequency of glaucoma It increases according to age. However, the first red centers of this disease, is when patients are already in advanced stages; they have trips when walking, burning and pain in the eyes, which often leads them to the emergency department.

On some occasions, the patient complains of headache and eye pain, which usually appear in people with diabetes . For Ruiz Sandoval, once glaucoma is detected, treatment based on eye drops (droplets), which helps decrease the Intraocular pressure , the only factor that can be controlled.

However, when the eye drops , laser or some surgical treatments are used, although none is curative, because they only delay the evolution of the disease, clarified the specialist: "It is advisable to go to a periodic, minimum revision, every year to have a timely detection, since when treating In time, the forecast is much better, because the appearance of the blindness ", Maintained Gloria Lopez-Ruíz.


Video Medicine: Glaucoma the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world (March 2024).