Glaucoma Case Study

Glaucoma is an ocular disease that involves the increase of pressure in the anterior chamber of the eye which in turn can lead to harmful effects to vision. The anterior chamber is the area of your eye between the cornea and the iris. There are five types of glaucoma:
- Chronic open-angle glaucoma is the most common type of glaucoma and is caused by a blockage in the trabecular meshwork which drains the aqueous humour out of the eye. This means aqueous humour is not efficiently balanced out as more and more aqueous humour is produced and not enough is removed, causing an increase in intraocular pressure. This develops slowly.
- Primary angle-closure glaucoma which can occur slowly (chronic) or quickly (acute) leading to a painful increase in intraocular pressure. This is a more rare form of glaucoma.
- Secondary glaucoma is less common and can be caused by trauma or a haemorrhage or inflammation of the iris. This causes the iris to be displaced, blocking the exit
A healthier, fit individual usually has an overall lower intraocular pressure. Studies have been undertaken showing that in younger and older patients embarking on aerobic exercises, it reduces the intraocular pressure in the individual. The pressure lowers more with longer exercises and at a higher intensity. On the other hand, overall BMI (Body Mass Index) has not been shown to contribute to intraocular pressure or glaucoma. In women, an experiment was undertaken showing that as BMI increases with 1 unit, there is a 7% decrease in the chance of getting open-angled glaucoma, although the equipment used in this experiment could have affected the results and caused an overestimation of intraocular pressure. In women it is also thought that high oestrogen levels reduce risk of getting glaucoma as it protects retinal ganglion cells of the