Home Care for Elderly provided by Comfort Keepers in Fredericksburg, VA: What You Need to Know About Glaucoma on National Glaucoma Awareness Month

Comfort Keepers in Fredericksburg, VA has home care for elderly with glaucoma

The word glaucoma is probably not a new word to you, but when you think about it, what comes to mind? You probably already know that it is an eye disease, but you may not know much more than that. Glaucoma is not always painful, and it does not always lead to vision loss immediately. In fact, it is vital that all seniors have their eyes checked for glaucoma, as they may not know they have it. Below, the Comfort Keepers Home Care for elderly team will talk more about this eye disease to help you better understand it.

What Are the Risk Factors for Glaucoma?

The most widely known risk factor for this eye disease is pressure in the eye. However, this is not the only risk factor and some of the others include a family history of glaucoma, thin corneas, old age, nearsightedness, history of anemia or shock, and even previous eye injuries.

What Causes Glaucoma to Form?

Glaucoma is present when there is too much fluid in the eye that cannot drain. This then leads to too much pressure in the eye and the pressure places stress on the optic nerve, which then cannot function and leads to vision loss or blindness.

Comfort Keepers Home Care for elderly professionals want to point out that not all individuals who have glaucoma will have elevated eye pressure. In fact, some individuals develop this eye disease due to poor blood flow and a fragile optic nerve.

What Are the Symptoms of Glaucoma?

This can be tricky. There are two main types of glaucoma – open-angle and narrow-angle. Open-angle glaucoma does not show any symptoms and the only time seniors know there is a problem is when they lose their vision. Because of this, the experts at Comfort Keepers Home Care for elderly recommend that seniors have their eyes checked at least once per year.

The second type, narrow-angle glaucoma, is a medical emergency and presents itself with severe eye pain, vomiting, eye redness, nausea, blurred vision, and seeing halos around lights.

What Treatments Are Available for Glaucoma?

There are several treatments available for glaucoma, but the most commonly chosen treatment is eye drops. The drops work to reduce the pressure in the eye and alleviate the fluid buildup. If this treatment method does not work, your eye doctor will likely prescribe you oral medication.

Another treatment option is laser surgery, which is very effective, but only used for open-angle glaucoma.

The Comfort Keepers Home Care for elderly team is dedicated to helping your loved one who may suffer from glaucoma. It is important to remember that glaucoma is not preventable, but it can be managed effectively.