When it comes to nutrition, it’s easy to find endless claims about which foods are the best and how different diets correlate to different disorders. Of course, what isn’t easy is deciphering which claims to follow. If you’re wondering if you can prevent glaucoma by changing up your dinner, we’ll look at what you should know about the two.

Glaucoma and Nutrition
The long and short is that there is no direct link between glaucoma and nutrition, though there does seem to be some correlation. The standard advice is to eat foods that are rich in vitamins and antioxidants because they protect against oxidative stress that may lead to optic nerve damage. This includes many fruits and veggies, preferably leafy greens like chard, kale, or spinach. You might also consider adding in nuts, fish, and black beans into the mix.

Fast Facts about Your Optic Nerves
Glaucoma occurs when the fluids in your eye build up, putting too much pressure on the optic nerve. The first few symptoms tend to be blind spots in the field of vision, largely because the fluids in your eye aren’t flowing and draining as well as they once did. There are different types of glaucoma, with some progressing far more rapidly than others. No matter how healthy your diet is, it’s important to pay attention to any changes in your vision and schedule an eye appointment in Pittsburgh, PA, as soon as possible.

Eye Exams in Pittsburgh
Regular eye exams can catch early signs of glaucoma, especially when you visit the same facility year after year. If you’re looking for an optometrist in Pittsburgh, PA, who can monitor how your eyes change, the staff at Lappen Eye Care is here to help.

Glaucoma is a disease that causes vision loss due to pressure on the optic nerves. The two most prevalent types of glaucoma are angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Each has unique symptoms and treatment approaches.

Diagnosing and Treating ACG

This type of glaucoma causes angle closure in multiple areas, leading to optic nerve damage and eye pressure. Complete or total vision loss may follow. The most common symptoms associated with ACG include:

• Blurry or hazy vision
• Seeing rainbow-colored circles when exposed to bright lights
• Severe head and eye pain with or without nausea and vomiting
• Sudden loss of sight

Increased eye pressure with ACG can develop slowly over time or come on suddenly. During the early stages of ACG, one or more angles may close but you do not yet feel increased pressure in your eyes. Please contact our optometry practice in Pittsburg, PA for an immediate appointment if you have any of the above symptoms. The most common way to treat OCG is with prescription eye drops to decrease eye pressure and optic nerve damage.

Diagnosing and Treating POAG

POAG typically presents no warning signs in the early stages. This type develops slowly over many years before you notice a decrease in your visual acuity. Unfortunately, optometrists cannot reverse vision loss from POAG with medication or surgery. Regular eye exams in Pittsburgh, PA are critical at detecting this disease before it robs you of sight.

When one of the optometrists at Lappen Eye Care detects glaucoma during a routine eye examination, we can prescribe specialty eye drops or other medication to help protect your vision. People of Latino or African-American heritage have a higher risk of developing POAG, as do those with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or who have a close family member with the disease.

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with glaucoma, there are treatment options available that can help protect your vision. Depending on the type of glaucoma you’ve developed and how long you’ve had it, your optometrist in Pittsburgh, PA, will have solutions.

What Are My Treatment Options?

To stop vision loss caused by glaucoma, your eye doctor will try to lower the intraocular pressure of your eye. Usually, they’ll begin with the least invasive method and then take note of whether more treatment is needed. Treatment options for glaucoma in Pittsburgh may include:

• Prescription eyedrops
• Oral medications
• Laser therapy
• Eye surgery

Common Types of Glaucoma

Your treatment plan will hinge on the type of glaucoma with which you’ve been diagnosed: open-angle, angle-closure, or normal-tension . In the United States, 9 out of every 10 people with glaucoma have the open-angle version. This means too much pressure has built up in the eye and is causing damage, or is at risk of causing damage, to the optic nerve. This type of glaucoma may have very mild symptoms in the beginning, so mild that you don’t realize anything is wrong until it progresses and your vision becomes impaired.

If you develop angle-closure glaucoma, you’ll need emergency medical care, as this type can cause total vision loss in just a matter of days. Angle-closure glaucoma happens when a sudden build-up of fluid causes severe pressure. Symptoms include sudden, severe headache and intense eye pain.

Normal-tension glaucoma happens in patients who have normal eye pressure, and doctors are not sure why. However, heart problems and low blood pressure are linked to normal-tension glaucoma.

Help for Glaucoma in Pittsburgh, PA

For diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma in Pittsburgh, PA, contact Lappen Eye Care today. Regular eye exams that include glaucoma screenings are important, especially as you age or if you have a family history of glaucoma.

Are you at risk for glaucoma? You might be and not even know it. Glaucoma is a condition that you might develop without ever realizing it, until permanent damage is done to your eyesight. If you’re at risk for glaucoma, it’s very important to see your eye doctor in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. Only your eye doctor can catch glaucoma in its earliest stages. Catching it early can help you avoid potential loss of eyesight.

Glaucoma Risk Factors

Everyone can get glaucoma, but some people are at higher risk than others. Genetics is one risk factor. If members of your family have been diagnosed with glaucoma, you may be at higher risk as well.

Below are some more risk factors that can make you more likely to get glaucoma.

• Age. People over age 60 are more likely to get glaucoma.
• Eyesight. If you’re extremely near-sighted or far-sighted, you may be more likely to get glaucoma.
• Medication. People who take corticosteroid medications (especially for a long time) are at increased risk to get glaucoma.
• Health. Some conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease put patients at an increased risk of getting glaucoma.

For a full list of risk factors, speak with your eye doctor at Lappen Eye Care.

How to Know If You Have Glaucoma

Since the early stages of glaucoma may have no symptoms, the only way to tell if you have glaucoma may be to get an eye exam in Pittsburgh. At Lappen Eye Care, we provide eye exams for patients in the Pittsburgh area. During the eye exams, we’ll check your eyes for glaucoma and other chronic conditions that could dramatically impact your eye health. To make an appointment, call today.