How Sleep and Emotion Affect Glaucoma Patients

       On holidays or Sundays, we often encounter glaucoma patients accompanied by family members or relatives to see the doctor, acute congestion in the affected eye, corneal edema, finger touching the eye pressure hard as a stone, the patient’s eye pain is unbearable, and even nausea and vomiting, can not sleep (some come to see the doctor in the middle of the night). Doctors ask the reason. Most of them have acute glaucoma attacks caused by overwork for entertaining friends and relatives during holidays, irregular life and lack of sleep.  There is also a common case of menopausal women or elderly people with lonely and depressed temperament, who lose their temper or cry because of trivial matters at home or disputes between neighbors, and then feel discomfort in both eyes or one eye, followed by eye redness and eye pain, and the intraocular pressure is often above 6.67 kPa (50 mmHg). Doctors diagnose acute attacks of glaucoma.  These two cases are enough to show that lack of sleep or overexertion, emotional excitement or excessive sadness can be the triggers of acute glaucoma attack (more obvious in closed-angle glaucoma). This is because some stimulating factors can cause malfunction of the vascular nerve regulating center and lead to dysfunction of vasodilation and contraction, which on the one hand can cause capillary dilation and increased vascular permeability, resulting in ciliary edema and anterior displacement and blockage of the atrial angle; on the other hand, it may also cause excessive atrial aqueous formation and increased pressure in the posterior chamber, causing the anterior chamber to become shallow due to anterior displacement of the peripheral iris. Both of these factors can lead to a dramatic increase in IOP, resulting in an acute clinical attack of glaucoma. In conclusion, glaucoma patients (especially closed-angle glaucoma) should have proper control over their lives and emotions, self-regulate, avoid stimulation by adverse factors, and always be in the best state of relaxation, carefree life, open-mindedness and cheerful personality.