Glaucom The Leading Cause Of Blindness
#6
Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness, affecting 66 million individuals worldwide, with the majority manifesting blindness are from Asian countries (Stein, MD, MS, et al., 2011). The Unites States continues to experience a significant number of Asian immigrants consequently glaucoma is a degenerative disease that requires additional research and monitoring.
Japanese Americans are generally lumped into the Asian population health research and subsequently reported as a sub-population within the Asian population. This is not a fact when reporting all morbidities but it is prevalent when researching glaucoma.
There are several types of glaucoma the two principal types are primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG, also known as ACG) and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG also known as OCG). Two additional types of glaucoma are normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and congenital glaucoma. …show more content…
Normal-tension glaucoma is more prevalent in people of Japanese ancestry.
NTG is caused by damage to the optic nerve even though the pressure in the eye is not very high. At this point the cause of NTG is not known.
Prevalence of glaucoma within the Japanese American population is contingent upon the type of glaucoma. However, the NTG rates among Japanese Americans are .73% higher in comparison to other races including white Americans who score at .34%. The OAG rate of Asian Americans is 6.52%, which is similar to the 6.4% of Latinos but higher than the 5.59% of white
Americans.
The hazard rate by (Marianne K.G. Tanabe, n.d.) glaucoma for people of Japanese ancestry are 1.7% for open-angle glaucoma comparable to Indians but considerably less than the 2.3% for Pakistani’s. Narrow-angle glaucoma is a rate of 2.4% for Japanese with Vietnamese being at almost 4%. However, normal-tension glaucoma is the most significant differentiator with Japanese scoring at 4.5% which is significantly higher than the next Asian sub-population of Filipino at 2.3%.
The cause of pressure in the eye resulting in NTG is still unknown, however, there are factors that affect Japanese Americans in terms of receiving a diagnosis and healthcare. The first is a cultural disconnect with their healthcare provider and language barriers. Additionally, the level of acculturation realized by the patient may also be an issue. Of course, the lack of health insurance is an additional risk factor.
#7
Currently there are no known prevention strategies for glaucoma, however a healthy lifestyle is recommended. A healthy lifestyle includes moderate weight levels, exercise and working on limiting any comorbidities that may impact eye pressure. Regular eye exams are the best prevention treatment to limit glaucoma damage. Regular testing for people is recommended annually or every two years for people under the age of 64 and every six to 12 months for people older than 65 years of age.
Treatment includes medications to reduce eye pressure, laser surgery and traditional eye surgery.
#8
According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) is a laser surgery used to reduce eye pressure in glaucoma patients. SLT is performed after the attempt of eye drop medication usage to lower eye pressure or when the eye drop medication is causing significant side effects. However, SLT is not a primary treatment for NTG patients, as it is generally for open-angle glaucoma patients.
Recent research indicates that glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease, sharing similarities with other brain disease such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s (Glaucoma Research Foundation, 2013). There is still a great deal to learn about the correlation of glaucoma and brain disease, however, early research indicate that glaucoma patients experience some of the abnormalities within other brain diseases.
Ultimately, the most critical factor to prevent blindness from any type of glaucoma is early detection. There are five comprehensive glaucoma exams, tonometry, ophthalmoscopy, perimetry, goniscopy and pachymetry. Tonometry measures the inner ye pressure through the use of eye drops to the numb the eye and a puff of air is applied to the eye. It is important to know that eye pressure is different for each person, contingent upon the eye pressure range achieved a patient and his physician may want to consider an additional test. Opthalmoscopy, also utilizes eye drops but instead of numbing the eye, it dilates the pupil for examination of the shape and color of the optic nerve. The perimetry test is a visual field test mapping the field of vision by visually tracking a moving light. The fourth test is a goniscopy exam to measuring the angle of where the iris meets the cornea, again eye drops are used to numb the eye and a contact lens is placed on the eye. (Glaucoma Research Foundation, 2013). Lastly, is pachmetry, which measures the thickness of the cornea using a probe, placed on the front of the eye.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness, affecting 66 million individuals worldwide, with the majority manifesting blindness are from Asian countries (Stein, MD, MS, et al., 2011). The Unites States continues to experience a significant number of Asian immigrants consequently glaucoma is a degenerative disease that requires additional research and monitoring.
Japanese Americans are generally lumped into the Asian population health research and subsequently reported as a sub-population within the Asian population. This is not a fact when reporting all morbidities but it is prevalent when researching glaucoma.
There are several types of glaucoma the two principal types are primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG, also known as ACG) and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG also known as OCG). Two additional types of glaucoma are normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and congenital glaucoma. …show more content…
Normal-tension glaucoma is more prevalent in people of Japanese ancestry.
NTG is caused by damage to the optic nerve even though the pressure in the eye is not very high. At this point the cause of NTG is not known.
Prevalence of glaucoma within the Japanese American population is contingent upon the type of glaucoma. However, the NTG rates among Japanese Americans are .73% higher in comparison to other races including white Americans who score at .34%. The OAG rate of Asian Americans is 6.52%, which is similar to the 6.4% of Latinos but higher than the 5.59% of white
Americans.
The hazard rate by (Marianne K.G. Tanabe, n.d.) glaucoma for people of Japanese ancestry are 1.7% for open-angle glaucoma comparable to Indians but considerably less than the 2.3% for Pakistani’s. Narrow-angle glaucoma is a rate of 2.4% for Japanese with Vietnamese being at almost 4%. However, normal-tension glaucoma is the most significant differentiator with Japanese scoring at 4.5% which is significantly higher than the next Asian sub-population of Filipino at 2.3%.
The cause of pressure in the eye resulting in NTG is still unknown, however, there are factors that affect Japanese Americans in terms of receiving a diagnosis and healthcare. The first is a cultural disconnect with their healthcare provider and language barriers. Additionally, the level of acculturation realized by the patient may also be an issue. Of course, the lack of health insurance is an additional risk factor.
#7
Currently there are no known prevention strategies for glaucoma, however a healthy lifestyle is recommended. A healthy lifestyle includes moderate weight levels, exercise and working on limiting any comorbidities that may impact eye pressure. Regular eye exams are the best prevention treatment to limit glaucoma damage. Regular testing for people is recommended annually or every two years for people under the age of 64 and every six to 12 months for people older than 65 years of age.
Treatment includes medications to reduce eye pressure, laser surgery and traditional eye surgery.
#8
According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) is a laser surgery used to reduce eye pressure in glaucoma patients. SLT is performed after the attempt of eye drop medication usage to lower eye pressure or when the eye drop medication is causing significant side effects. However, SLT is not a primary treatment for NTG patients, as it is generally for open-angle glaucoma patients.
Recent research indicates that glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease, sharing similarities with other brain disease such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s (Glaucoma Research Foundation, 2013). There is still a great deal to learn about the correlation of glaucoma and brain disease, however, early research indicate that glaucoma patients experience some of the abnormalities within other brain diseases.
Ultimately, the most critical factor to prevent blindness from any type of glaucoma is early detection. There are five comprehensive glaucoma exams, tonometry, ophthalmoscopy, perimetry, goniscopy and pachymetry. Tonometry measures the inner ye pressure through the use of eye drops to the numb the eye and a puff of air is applied to the eye. It is important to know that eye pressure is different for each person, contingent upon the eye pressure range achieved a patient and his physician may want to consider an additional test. Opthalmoscopy, also utilizes eye drops but instead of numbing the eye, it dilates the pupil for examination of the shape and color of the optic nerve. The perimetry test is a visual field test mapping the field of vision by visually tracking a moving light. The fourth test is a goniscopy exam to measuring the angle of where the iris meets the cornea, again eye drops are used to numb the eye and a contact lens is placed on the eye. (Glaucoma Research Foundation, 2013). Lastly, is pachmetry, which measures the thickness of the cornea using a probe, placed on the front of the eye.