Glaucoma is an eye disease that can often be heard, but many people do not know much about it and may feel that glaucoma is far away from them, but as an irreversible and blinding eye disease, once you meet with it and fail to prevent it early, you will regret it! After all, glaucoma can develop regardless of age, with a prevalence of 1% in the population and a doubled risk over the age of 40. The common cause of glaucoma is damage to the retinal nerve fiber layer due to adverse intraocular pressure. Intraocular pressure is the pressure in the eye, which can be considered as the water pressure in the eye. The value of intraocular pressure is stable in a reasonable range to not damage the vision, usually 10 to 21 mmHg. Under normal conditions, atrial fluid is continuously secreted from the eye to nourish the cornea, and the secreted atrial fluid is removed through an outlet called the atrial angle. When a reasonable dynamic balance between secretion and elimination is maintained, the eye is able to maintain its normal shape. The causes of glaucoma can be formally divided into two types: one is atrial water outflow disorder, such as having congenital atrial angle structural abnormalities, or acquired due to trauma, cataract, inflammation, neovascularization, and other factors that destroy atrial angle function; the other is excessive atrial water secretion, and atrial water cannot be eliminated in time, commonly due to inflammation. There are many predisposing factors for glaucoma, such as genetics, use of hormones, trauma, inflammation, high myopia or hyperopia, certain retinopathy, cataract, after certain eye surgeries, and personality. Those who have primary glaucoma in their blood relatives have a much higher chance of developing glaucoma than the general population; those who use hormones for a long time due to diseases, because hormones can cause atrial water flow obstruction, and are prone to glaucoma, especially young people; patients with trauma to the eye, because of atrial angle damage or bleeding blocking the atrial angle, are prone to glaucoma; inflammation can cause pupillary atresia or atrial angle adhesions due to exudation, obstructing atrial water reflux, or excessive atrial water secretion Glaucoma can occur due to inflammation, which can cause pupillary atresia or atrial angle adhesions, obstructing atrial aqueous flow or excessive secretion of atrial aqueous; high myopia can cause atrial aqueous flow obstruction due to structural damage, although the atrial angle is rarely closed by adhesions, and high hyperopia can cause glaucoma due to narrow atrial angle; certain retinal ischemic lesions, such as diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein obstruction, can cause glaucoma due to the formation of new blood vessels after retinal ischemia, blocking the atrial angle; cataract can expand during the development of cataract. Glaucoma can occur due to the formation of new blood vessels after retinal ischemia, which can block the atrial angle; cataract can expand during the development process, which can block the pupil and press the atrial angle, blocking the atrial water flow and causing glaucoma; certain eye surgeries, such as after silicone oil filling surgery and anterior chamber IOL implantation, can cause atrial angle atrial water exclusion dysfunction and cause glaucoma; glaucoma has a higher incidence in people with an impatient and anxious personality, and the influence of emotion on the eyes not only dilates the pupil but also causes atrial angle adhesion closure and causes Glaucoma. Symptoms Glaucoma usually starts in one eye first, and the other eye develops at different intervals, ranging from a few days to several years. Acute attacks are easier to detect, such as redness, swelling and pain in the eye, loss of vision, rainbow vision, and dilated pupils, with severe ipsilateral headache, nausea and vomiting. In contrast, chronic attacks of glaucoma are not easily detectable, but visual field defects may appear and expand, and may be accompanied by vision loss. The visual field defect usually appears in the periphery of the eye near the nose, first as a dark shadow, then the dark shadow expands and darkens to the periphery, and gradually the periphery is invisible, leaving only the center, as if looking through a hole, called the tubular visual field. In some patients, although the visual acuity measured by tubular vision is still very good, 1.0, the scope of vision is very limited, and it causes great obstacles to work and life. Prevention strategies Glaucoma damage to vision is permanent, except for acute glaucoma attacks when vision loss is partly due to corneal edema, which can be partially improved after intraocular pressure is controlled and corneal edema subsides, glaucoma patients whose vision is not well treated will gradually and irreparably lose vision! Therefore, the prevention and treatment of glaucoma is of great significance. For people with blood relatives suffering from primary glaucoma, long-term hormone use, high myopia or hyperopia, glaucoma screening is needed to routinely measure IOP, anterior chamber depth, and C/D (optic cup/optical disc) ratio. If the IOP is high without C/D enlargement, regular observation is needed, but if the corrected IOP exceeds 25 mmHg, it is recommended that medication be administered according to glaucoma; if the anterior chamber depth is shallow, the atrial angle needs to be checked for adhesion closure, and for atrial angle closure less than 180°, it is recommended that laser iris perimetry be performed to reduce the damage during glaucoma attacks and buy time for further treatment; if C/D enlargement is present, it is recommended that an optic disc OCT be performed If the C/D is enlarged, OCT of the optic disc is recommended to determine whether there is thinning of the optic nerve fiber layer and to clarify whether the patient has glaucoma. Treatment Once the diagnosis of glaucoma is confirmed, lifelong treatment is required because the IOP of glaucoma patients is no longer self-regulating. Whether the medication is administered on time or after anti-glaucoma surgery, the IOP, visual acuity, C/D, etc. need to be observed regularly. Because even if the IOP can be maintained at normal after medication control or surgery, it may gradually increase with time. Even if the IOP is still within the normal value, some patients may experience further loss of vision, and then the IOP needs to be further reduced to an acceptable range. Therefore, glaucoma is a lifelong disease and the goal of prevention and treatment is to slow down the loss of vision by monitoring the IOP within the desired range.