As Glaucoma Awareness Month draws to a close, it’s important to remember that help is out there. Yes, glaucoma can lead to permanent vision loss, but this risk goes down significantly under medical supervision. As long as regular eye exams are part of your annual routine, changes in the eye and/or eye pressure can be caught early and treated accordingly.
On the treatment side, this year has seen the release of new glaucoma medications including Rhopressa and Vyzulta. From a personal standpoint, these new eye drops have been quite useful in terms of lowering eye pressure. They require once a day dosing (at night), which significantly improves compliance. The drops also work well in lowering IOP (in the majority of patients) and can be used in conjunction with other glaucoma medications. The only issue I’ve seen so far is cost. Like many new treatments, these particular medications come at a premium and only time will tell if the prices drop. In the meantime, I’ve been using a large amount of sample eye drops to get a feel for how they work.
Key Takeaways for Preventing Glaucoma:
- Remember to schedule your annual eye exam, early detection is the best way to prevent vision loss from glaucoma
- Keep your weight in check through diet and regular exercise
- Up your intake of fruits and vegetables with a focus on dark leafy greens – aim for 3+ servings per day which is about a cup.
Live in Your OcularPrime:
Prevention is one of the main themes here at OcularPrime so always keep an eye out for new information. Additionally, a recent study released by the Ocular Nutrition and Wellness Society suggests some nutritional findings may lower overall risk of vision loss from glaucoma. Increased dietary intake of dark leafy greens like spinach, kale and broccoli were found to lower risk of glaucoma by twenty to thirty percent. Furthermore, increasing fruit and vegetable intake (rich in vitamin C, A and carotenoids) lowered risk of glaucoma by seventy-nine percent.
Obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes remain risk factors for glaucoma so it makes sense to keep your weight in check not only to prevent systemic diseases, but lower glaucoma risk as well.
