What Is Open Angle Glaucom?

Open Angle glaucoma, which is also known as chronic simple glaucoma, occurs in 80 percent of all people with it, yet it is an eye disease that can be cured if it is discovered early. There are generally no symptoms with glaucoma; so many people do not realize they have it until it is too late. This is unfortunate, because if treated early, vision can be saved and the disease cured. This is why it is extremely important to pay attention to any signs that might appear. There are other types of this condition but open angle is the one that affects the eyesight of most people. This disease works by damaging the optic nerve through pressure in the eye or decreasing the blood supply to the optic nerve. A person’s vision can be saved if this disease is caught earlier. Open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension is a disease of the eye caused by damage to the optic nerve, usually due to high pressure inside the eye. When left untreated, this increase in pressure can gradually cause loss of vision, starting with small, imperceptible blind spots which progress to tunnel vision and then blindness.

Cuases of Open Angle Glaucoma

The main cause for this disease is excess pressure in the eye. The pressure in the eye causes damage to the optic nerve which carries vision to the brain. This damage affects our side or peripheral vision and then slowly spreads to involve larger and larger areas of our vision. However, it usually spares our central vision until late in the course of the disease. Any nerve damage that happens is irreversible, so preventing damage is the key. Other causes of glaucoma are diabetes, variations in blood pressure, hypertension, and trauma. This eye disease is also related to age and is much more prevalent among the elderly. This is because of genetics, as well as increased health issues among the elderly such as hypertension, diabetes, etc.

Symptoms Open Angle Glaucoma

There are two types of glaucoma which are open-angle glaucoma and closed angle glaucoma. In open-angle glaucoma, the patient suffers gradual loss of eyesight leading to complete blindness if left untreated. The field of vision gradually decreases and there are changes in the optic nerve. Because of the absence of perceptible changes in the early stages, it becomes difficult to detect. More than 90% of all glaucoma cases in the United States are open-angle, though this figure is much smaller in Asian and European countries. Closed-angle glaucoma is rarer. Its symptoms are also much more acute, and include pain in the eyes, seeing spots, halos or lights, extremely red eyes, and nausea. Vision loss may be very sudden and extremely painful. Closed-angle glaucoma needs to be treated immediately as it can very quickly lead to complete blindness.

Treatment of Open Angle Glaucoma

There are treatment options but you need to catch the early warning signs of this disease as if it is left untreated blindness may occurred. That is why it becomes necessary to keep track of small changes in vision. There are some eye drops which are used to reduce the ocular hypertension. Generic Alphagan is the best eye drop for the treatment for this disease. It is chemically composed of brimonidine tartrate. Generic Alphagan works by a specific mechanism of action. Blood vessels in the eye control the watery fluid production in the eye. This fluid exerts an equal pressure on eye. Generic Alphagan (Brimonidine Tartrate) acts on the alpha receptors in the blood vessels and makes them narrower. This action of brimonidine tartrate eye drops makes them to reduce the production of fluid and ultimately the pressure decreases. Thus it is the best eye drop for the treatment of open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

I am Alex Warren, fond of writing information on health issues and treatment. Generic Alphagan is the best eye drop for the treatment for this disease

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Author Bio: I am Alex Warren, fond of writing information on health issues and treatment. Generic Alphagan is the best eye drop for the treatment for this disease

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