Glaucoma treatment needs to be “personalized”

  Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, after cataract, and the first irreversible cause of blindness worldwide. Although glaucoma is a lifelong disease, it can be effectively managed through aggressive early treatment to maintain long-lasting effective vision. Glaucoma patients often ask their doctors: Why is the treatment for my glaucoma different from that of others and why are the results of treatment different? This is because the pathogenesis of glaucoma is complex and there are many different types of glaucoma seen clinically, with different treatment methods and different prognoses.  The optic nerve is like a “cable” that transmits external objects seen by the eye to the visual center of the brain. Early, mild visual field defects are often difficult to detect. If the optic nerve is severely damaged, it can lead to blindness. The three current treatments are: medication, laser and surgery. Treatment reduces the IOP to a range that each patient’s optic nerve can tolerate, also known as the “target IOP”, “target IOP” or “safe IOP”, so that the optic nerve damage The optic nerve damage does not progress and the visual field loss does not continue.  Therefore, the treatment method is different for different patients, and the target IOP base also varies from person to person due to the thickness of the cornea, the thickness of the nerve fiber layer in the fundus, changes in the disc rim, and the progression of the visual field, so for glaucoma patients, the treatment plan needs to be “customized”. Just like patients with hypertension and diabetes can live a long life if they are effectively controlled and their biological behavior is well regulated. Therefore, individualized treatment of glaucoma patients is particularly important. It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent and treat blindness. We hope that we can all start from ourselves and trust in science and technology to improve the visual quality of glaucoma patients.