Glaucoma Treatment

Dr. Yusuf Avni Yilmaz, ophthalmologist at Anadolu Medical Center

Glaucoma is a serious eye condition which may cause permanent vision loss. Alongside cataract, glaucoma is among the main reasons of blindness on a global scale.

Glaucoma is not manifested by early symptoms and may be found only during a detailed eye examination. 

Risk groups constitute people:

• aged above 40, of the African or Asian race
• with family glaucoma
• having refractive errors
• with high intraocular pressure
• with diabetes, hypertension
• who are on cortisone,
• have trauma, thin structure of the cornea;
• suffer of migraine and blood circulation disorders

In most cases glaucoma is caused by high intraocular pressure, but sometimes it may occur even in normal values of ocular pressure. Most glaucoma types are not usually associated with pain and do not manifest any symptoms, until the patient starts suffering of apparent vision loss. Regular eye examinations are the only way of detecting glaucoma before permanent vision loss occurs. Nevertheless, an unusual glaucoma type, known as acute angle-closure glaucoma, may cause sudden and often severe symptoms of blurred vision, halos around lights, pain in the eyes, nausea and vomiting. In the event you experience these symptoms, make sure that you consult an ophthalmologist immediately.

Glaucoma treatment

The therapy is mainly aimed at stopping the progress of the disease and at preventing the vision loss reason. The treatment of glaucoma depends on the patient’s condition. Basically, the treatment options include medications, laser treatment and surgery. Sometimes, these treatment methods may be applied in combination.  The treatment will not cure the existing loss of vision. Sometimes, regardless of the treatment, the disease progression is inevitable.

The most frequent type of glaucoma treatment is with eye drops.  The objective is to reduce the high intraocular pressure and to stop the injury of the visual nerve, the narrowing of the visual field and the loss of vision. The use of eye drops require regular use and persistency. Therefore, patients need to be instructed and be aware of the seriousness and importance of the condition. Laser therapy may be applied in particular types of glaucoma. Early surgical treatment may be applied to patients whose therapy with medications provides unsatisfactory results and the disease progresses regardless of the medicamentous treatment.

Doctors in the ophthalmological department at Anadolu Medical Center are equipped with cutting edge diagnostic and treatment devices and apparatuses. They apply a combination of conservative and modern treatment approaches for the treatment of glaucoma and other eye diseases. This enables them to manage complex and advanced stages of even the most challenging cases.