What is Glaucoma – Definition, Types, Symptoms and More ?

Introduction

The disease is severe; it can lead to blindness. However, physical exercises are essential to control glaucoma and live a life closer to normality.

In this text, you will see everything you need to know what it is, what treatments are, and how physical activities help in this process.

What Is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a disease cause mainly by elevated intraocular pressure. If left untreated, glaucoma permanently damages the optic disc of the retina, causing progressive atrophy of the visual field, which can progress to low vision or blindness.

What Is Intraocular Pressure?

Intraocular pressure is a measure of the pressure in the eyes, which, when it is higher than usual, is the cause of glaucoma.

What Diseases Will Associate With Intraocular Pressure?

Some diseases that affect the optic nerve and involve the loss of retinal ganglion cells in a pattern characteristic of optic neuropathy can cause intraocular pressure. The main one is glaucoma.

What Are The Types Of Glaucoma?

There are several types of glaucoma. Chronic simple glaucoma or open-angle glaucoma, representing about 80% of cases, affects people over 40 years of age and can be asymptomatic. It will cause an anatomical change in the region of the anterior chamber angle, which prevents the outflow of aqueous humor and increases intraocular pressure.

The main feature of angle-closure glaucoma is a sudden increase in intraocular pressure. Congenital glaucoma (rare form) affects newborns, and secondary glaucoma is due to diseases such as diabetes, uveitis, cataracts, etc.

What Are The Main Symptoms Of Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is an asymptomatic disease at the beginning. Visual loss only occurs in more advanced stages and first compromises peripheral vision. Afterwards, the visual field gradually narrows until it becomes a tubular vision. Without treatment, the patient is blind.

The disease appears more frequently from age 40, but it can occur in any age group, depending on the cause that caused the higher intraocular pressure.

What To Do To Prevent Glaucoma?

In addition to having a healthy life, it is essential to do preventive exercises, especially in cases of those who have issues in the family since the disease is largely asymptomatic.

In addition to a sedentary lifestyle and lack of periodic consultations, one should avoid:

• high pressure;
• diabetes;
• stress;
• inappropriate use of eye drops;
• fluid intake in a short time.

What Treatments Are Available For Glaucoma?

Initially, the treatment is clinical  base on eye drops. In addition, oral drugs are

Some types of glaucoma will associate with disorders that require specific treatment. However, when the cause ceases, the intraocular pressure regresses, and the visual problem disappears. Therefore, eye medication will use for the short term while treating the other disease that causes glaucoma, e.g., diabetes.

Unfortunately, the cure for glaucoma will not discover. However, proper and continuous treatment can significantly reduce the risk of vision loss. And the individual can lead an everyday life. Other forms of treatment include laser applications and surgery (trabeculectomy). In addition. The practice of moderate physical exercises such as walking, yoga, Pilates, and tai chi, also help, according to research, to reduce intraocular pressure.

How Do Natural Control Mechanisms Work?

The circulatory system has delicate mechanisms to maintain pressure inside the arteries.

When the heart contracts, it expels the blood inside it. Venous blood in the right ventricle will pump to the lungs to oxygenate. The arterial in the left ventricle will pump to the aorta. An artery from which branches emerge that bifurcate into others of increasingly thinner diameters to form a kilometer network of capillaries destined to carry oxygen and nutrients to all the cells of the organism.

In the tissues, the capillaries deliver oxygen and essential nutrients and receive carbon dioxide and everything that no longer interests the cells to lead them to the veins that will take them back to the heart.

Millions of years of evolution have selected highly complex mechanisms that allow the brain to monitor blood pressure values ​​continuously and send orders to execute the necessary corrections to keep it at the appropriate values ​​for each situation.

Glaucoma: How Do Physical Activities And Pilates Help In The Treatment?

Paul T. Williams, from the Division of Life Sciences at the Berkeley Laboratory in California, suggests that a lack of physical exercise container also be a risk for developing the disease.

There are cases like the patient Alva Giacomini, 64. Who lost her sight entirely in a short period and proved that with determination and willpower, it is possible to overcome even a disability and have an everyday life within its limitations.

The patient had a sedentary lifestyle, as she was very insecure when walking on the street. However, after a few months of treatment, precising Pilates twice a week. She changed her lifestyle. According to a medical evaluation, she improved her posture and grew two inches in her first year of Pilates.

He also gained body awareness, spatial awareness, interaction, and perception. He improved his body alignment and gained flexibility for his activities of daily living and, above all, the balance he wanted, gaining self-confidence.

What Are The Main Recommendations?

It is essential to measure eye pressure regularly during a visit to the ophthalmologist because the sooner a change will discover, the more glaucoma treatment can ensure the patient’s vision.

Consult the ophthalmologist regularly, especially from the age of 35. Early diagnosis of glaucoma is essential for disease control.

Conclusion

Do not neglect treatment adherence. Unfortunately, many people fail to follow the doctor’s recommendations, first because of the absence of symptoms, then because the drugs are too expensive. This carelessness can have serious consequences.