Many people are surprised to find out they have a disease that can cause blindness.

Many people discover glaucoma when it is already severe, or when symptoms such as severe eye pain, surgery, or vision is affected. Glaucoma is also a common disease that causes blindness, second only to cataracts.

Symptoms of glaucoma are unclear, many cases are only detected when the disease has become severe.

After dinner, Mrs. Phan Thi Du (in Hung Yen ) suddenly had a headache, nausea, and eye pain. Thinking she had a cold, she asked her family to treat her and give her cold medicine. However, after one night, her symptoms got worse and her eye pain became more and more intense, so her family took her to the Central Eye Hospital for examination.

Through the examination results, Mrs. Du was surprised when the doctors diagnosed her with glaucoma (commonly known as migraine).

Waiting for a follow-up examination after the surgery, after the pain had passed, Mrs. Du was still in shock. She said that at first she thought it was just a common cold, so she was very surprised and scared when the doctor told her she had this disease.

To detect and control glaucoma early, the most effective way is examination and screening.

"Unfortunately, when it was discovered, my illness was quite severe. Initially, I was prescribed laser treatment and given medication to take home and be monitored for 2 weeks. However, after 2 weeks of treatment, when I went back for a check-up, my eye condition still did not improve, so the doctor decided to operate on me," said Ms. Du.

Now after the surgery, Mrs. Du feels stable, no longer in pain like before. The doctor said that in the long term, Mrs. Du will have to take medication continuously and have regular check-ups to maintain her remaining vision.

While completing procedures for glaucoma surgery, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong (in Hai Phong ) said she discovered she had glaucoma 2 years ago during a nearsightedness check-up, and had been treated with medication.

"However, recently I had severe eye pain and increased eye pressure, but the medication did not work, so I had to have surgery to preserve my vision," Ms. Huong said, adding that when she first discovered she had glaucoma, she was very depressed because she was young and had this disease and would have to live with it for the rest of her life.

"In particular, I didn't think I could get this disease because no one in my family had glaucoma. Before that, I had never had any eye disease, except for myopia. Sometimes my eyes hurt and tired, but it was just a normal symptom and it went away on its own."

According to doctors, Glaucoma is a disease caused by increased intraocular pressure that damages the optic nerve, leading to vision loss and blindness. Glaucoma is also a common cause of blindness after cataracts. If not detected and treated early, the patient's vision will gradually decrease to permanent vision loss and cannot be restored.

However, the symptoms of glaucoma are sometimes unclear, just a slight feeling of eye pain, blurred vision... so people rarely pay attention and easily ignore these symptoms.

Regular use of bone and joint medications, herbal medicines, etc. can lead to the risk of secondary glaucoma.

According to the Central Eye Hospital, glaucoma has many different forms such as primary and secondary. Primary glaucoma is the disease that the patient develops from the disease himself, often in these cases, there are risk factors in the family such as parents and relatives also have this disease; while secondary cases may be caused by the patient taking drugs, taking many drugs containing cortisol, especially many patients often take drugs for arthritis, gout...

In many secondary cases, patients can also get glaucoma after suffering from other diseases such as infections, diabetes, cardiovascular complications...

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Glaucoma Department, Central Eye Hospital said that currently the Department receives many patients with Glaucoma, with young people often encountering open-angle glaucoma, these cases are often prioritized for medical treatment first, patients are given monthly medication, controlled and monitored periodically.

Dr. Huong added that recently this disease has been detected more often in young people, not necessarily because the disease is getting younger, but because people's awareness of the disease has improved, people are screened better, so early detection is possible. Even many young people who go for normal myopia check-ups are also found to have glaucoma.

According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, to detect and control glaucoma early, the most effective way is examination and screening. Those who need to be screened include: People who have family members with this disease; people with systemic diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes, bone and joint diseases... especially diabetic patients need to have regular check-ups to control the retina, preventing complications to glaucoma.

Glaucoma is an incurable disease, patients must live with the disease for life and vision loss is irreversible. Therefore, treatment control is very important.

Dr. Huong also warned that many elderly patients who regularly use bone and joint medications, traditional medicine, etc., may be at risk of secondary glaucoma. Therefore, these cases need to pay attention to regular eye examinations.

"In addition, young people with high myopia, myopia that increases rapidly also need to control glaucoma because many cases of rapid increase in myopia have glaucoma. These cases also need to be examined and screened" - Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong recommends.

Accordingly, because glaucoma is an incurable disease, patients must live with the disease for life. Vision loss is irreversible. Therefore, treatment control is very important.

"Patients treated with medication must take their medication on time and attend check-ups on time to maintain their remaining vision," Dr. Huong noted.

Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/nhieu-nguoi-bat-ngo-vi-di-kham-moi-biet-mac-can-benh-de-gay-mu-loa-169251204153410015.htm