Come on, Handling Cataracts and Glaucoma

Part of a person's body will be more easily disturbed when he is no longer young, as well as the eyes. Organs that function to see can experience various kinds of disorders such as glaucoma and cataracts. Glaucoma and cataracts are conditions that can cause vision loss. Cataracts are disorders of the lens of the eye that can interfere with the activities of Hermina's friends.

The disturbance occurs gradually (the cloudiness of the lens gets thicker over time), is not red, and is not painful. Cataracts cause a temporary decrease in visual acuity that can be corrected by surgery. While glaucoma is a condition that occurs due to increased intraocular pressure which can cause damage to the optic nerve. If glaucoma is not treated promptly, a person can experience permanent blindness.

Symptoms of Cataract and Glaucoma, Recognize the Difference

Although both occur in the eye, the symptoms are different. Here are some of the symptoms that arise in patients with cataracts and glaucoma:

A. Cataract

A person who suffers from cataracts will initially experience visual disturbances such as changing the size of glasses frequently. In addition, there are several symptoms that can arise, including:

• Vision becomes blurry, like seeing smoke or fog
• Older people or people with presbyopia don't need to wear near but blurry glasses to see far
• Some types of cataracts can give symptoms in the form of seeing more clearly at night than during the day
• Double vision in one eye
• Easy glare
• Pupils look white, because the lens is cloudy

B. Glaucoma

There are several types of glaucoma, including acute glaucoma and chronic glaucoma. Symptoms that occur vary. In acute glaucoma can occur, among others:

• Vision may be blurry and the eye will suddenly redden and there may be severe pain in the eye with acute glaucoma, which may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
• Seeing rainbows around the lights

In chronic glaucoma, the symptoms include:

• Can occur without symptoms until damage occurs. It is usually discovered by accident during routine eye examinations.
• Eyes feel sore, sometimes dizzy
• Discomfort in the eyes or eyes get tired quickly
• Eyes can be red or not red
• In advanced glaucoma, the patient often bumps into nearby objects.

What are the “Things” that Cause Cataracts and Glaucoma?
Here are some of the causes of cataracts and glaucoma.

A. Cataract

The causes of cataracts are multifactorial. The main cause of cataracts is due to the aging process. Other causes of cataracts in adults include: diabetes mellitus, intraocular inflammation, trauma, and long-term use of drugs containing steroids. In pediatric cataracts, it can be congenital or acquired. Congenital cataracts can be caused by genetic mutations, chromosomal abnormalities, infection during pregnancy, or metabolic disorders. While those that can be caused by trauma, radiation-induced cataracts or steroids.

Cataracts due to aging, also known as age-related cataract or senile cataract, are the most common cataracts. This condition involves many processes, which include changing the composition of the aggregated proteins to form cloudiness, and the addition of layers of lens fibers which then make the lens harden, dense, pigmented and cloudy. Environmental factors that have a significant relationship with the incidence of cataracts are smoking habits and ultraviolet exposure.

B. Glaucoma

This disturbance occurs due to increased intraocular pressure, thereby damaging the optic nerve of the eye and subsequently causing disturbances in the visual field of the eye. In normal eyes there is a fluid in the eye called aqueous humor. The aqueous humor produced by the ciliary body will flow into the front of the eye through the pupil then into the anterior chamber angle and out into the systemic circulation through the trabecular meshwork (75%) and into the uveosclera (25%). If this flow is disturbed either because it is obstructed in the pupillary area or the trabecular meshwork will cause a buildup of aqueous humor and then cause intraocular pressure to increase, which in turn can compress the optic nerve papillae and glaucoma occurs.

Possible Treatments for Cataracts and Glaucoma
Disorders of the eye due to cataracts can be treated with surgery, as long as there are no problems other than cloudy lenses. The cloudy eye lens is replaced with an artificial lens, which before the operation has been measured the lens, so that it is expected to produce maximum visual acuity. Glaucoma can be dangerous, because it causes permanent damage to the optic nerve papillae. In glaucoma, treatment can be in the form of eye drops alone or with oral medication and/or with laser or surgical procedures, depending on the high intraocular pressure and the progression of optic nerve papillary damage and visual field damage. The above is expected to prevent the rate of further damage. Hermina's friends get an eye health consultation at Hermina Pandanaran Hospital.