Glaucoma: a bus test campaign to test your eyesight!
Glaucoma: a bus test campaign to test your eyesight!
Glaucoma is being treated. You still have to diagnose it early. Follow the campaign organized from March 8, 2015, in the biggest cities of France.
Do not let glaucoma steal your eyesight! An information and testing campaign starts on 8 March 2015 in Paris and then continues on the roads of France on the occasion of World Glaucoma Week from 9 to 14 March 2015.
• Silent and irreversible disease
The leading cause of blindness, glaucoma is due to an overpressure in the eye that crushes the optic nerve. 600,000 people are currently receiving treatment in France and another 400,000 are unaware that they are affected, according to Professor Philippe Denis, President of the French Society of Glaucoma. This disease is as silent as it is irreversible: lost vision can not be recovered. However, too many patients are being screened while the damage is already severe.
• Rapid, painless and free screening
Until the end of June 2015, this original information campaign recalls that from the age of 40, a simple appointment with the ophthalmologist can be enough to save the sight. 300 000 masks simulating vision in advanced glaucoma will be distributed on a mobile bus offering a rapid, painless and free screening. These wide-rimmed glasses are meant to block the visual field and the tiny star-shaped centerline allows us to understand the importance of visual loss as the disease progresses. They will also be available at the exit of some partner cinemas.
Screening can also be done at the ophthalmologist's office during a simple check-up, once every two years. Detected in time, glaucoma is treated in the majority of cases by simple eye drops (now, a drop a day suffices), by laser or surgery. The objective is to decrease the production of the liquid in the eye and to favor its evacuation to lower the eye pressure.
Professor Florent Aptel, President of the France Glaucoma Association, insists that the risk of being affected increases with age in the case of myopia in people with dark skin and that it is multiplied by 5 To 10 in the case of family history. So many additional reasons not to neglect the screening!
In practice:
The glaucoma bus will stop at Place de la Republique in Paris from 9 to 14 March 2015 and then in Caen, Rouen, Lille, Reims, Strasbourg, Dijon, Besançon and Bordeaux by June 2015.
The importance of visual assessment in the ophthalmologist
By Ingrid Haberfeld on May 27, 2014, as amended on October 16, 2014
The importance of a visual assessment in the ophthalmologist
AMD, cataract, glaucoma ... To detect these diseases of the eye, a visual assessment is necessary from 50 years.
• Visual assessment: what is the point of interest?
Several diseases develop at low noise. Early detection allows for drug or laser treatment.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) deprives central vision. It prevents reading, driving or watching television. It is the leading cause of blindness after 50 years.
Glaucoma is characterized by destruction of the optic nerve, usually caused by hyper-pressure within the orbit. This is the second cause of blindness.
Finally, the cataract is manifested by a decrease in visual acuity and the impression of being permanently in the fog. At issue: a crystalline lens turned opaque.
• How's it going?
The ophthalmologist measures visual acuity and performs ocular tension testing, lens microscopy (to detect cataract), fundus eye (for detecting AMD), and a photo of the head of the optic nerve To check the absence of glaucoma.
• A visual assessment at any age
From age 50: This is the age from which glaucoma and AMD should be detected. Think of an appointment every 2 years.
From age 60: Accelerate the frequency with a balance sheet every year. One in five people is affected by cataract at age 65.
From age 70: Keep the annual appointment. The incidence of glaucoma accelerates, with 10% of the population being affected.
At any age: See if you feel your visual field is shrinking, blurring or straightening.
Slowing the course of glaucoma: new treatments 2014
By Delphine Loez on January 15, 2014
Slowing the course of glaucoma: new treatments 2014
A revolutionary intervention by ultrasound, new eye drops more effective, the 2014 treatments of glaucoma combine performance and comfort.
The French Society of Ophthalmology dedicates its annual report 2014 to glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness in France. It emphasizes the comfort provided by new treatments and the urgency of screening.
Even if the treatments do not make it possible to recover the lost vision, they can slow the evolution of the disease, and that is already a lot.
The new eye drops made available are more effective and less restrictive. Their sustained release action allows them to be administered in one application per day instead of two. In addition, they are free of irritating preservatives (latanoprost in unit doses) and slow the production of aqueous humor, or facilitate the evacuation. Combining efficiency and comfort changes the daily lives of patients, especially as treatment should be monitored throughout life.
Another novelty 2014: the arrival of a treatment - which could be final - by ultrasound which weakens the glands producing aqueous humor. "Revolutionary and gentle, this technique would make it possible to treat in a single intervention almost 60% of patients," says Dr. Sellem of the ophthalmological center Kléber Lyon. On trial until now, it is beginning to be offered to the general public in some expert centers.
Good to know: In France, glaucoma affects 1.7 million people. Unfortunately, half of them do not know. Its frequency increases with age and 10% of the more than 70 years are reached. Insidious and painless, this disease causes a slow and irreversible destruction of the optic nerve that can lead to total loss of vision. Most often it is due to a rise in pressure inside the eye, linked to an accumulation of aqueous humor. "To stop the progression of the disease, we must generalize the screening of glaucoma and their management," explains Dr. Eric Sellem.
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Glaucoma and its treatments
10 December 2013 as amended on 24 October 2014
Glaucoma can damage the optic nerve and cause total blindness. Several eye drops are commonly prescribed to treat it.
Two cavities filled with liquid exist within the eye.
The clear aqueous liquid in the inner chamber of the eye is called aqueous humor. It is continually formed in the ciliary processes, glands situated near the lens. Drainage is mainly through a trabecular network and in spans.
Glaucoma is an attack of this drainage. The trabecular eye network is damaged in people with glaucoma leading to an increase in anterior eye pressure. It pushes backward, raising the pressure in the posterior cavity.
This posterior hypertension can damage the optic nerve and cause a visual deficit or total blindness.
There are several commonly prescribed eye drops to treat glaucoma. One of these drugs binds to the receptors of the capillaries of the ciliary processes causing their constriction and thus reducing the amount of aqueous humor thus its pressure.
Another drug acts on the uveoscleral pathway which drains the excess liquid in the part of the ciliary muscle located under the trabecular network. It acts on the cells constituting the ciliary muscle by increasing the size of the intercellular spaces of drainage. This improves fluid evacuation and reduces pressure within the eye.
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Eye Diseases: Laser Procedures
By Émilie Salvaging and Agnès Duperrin December 21, 2011, modified July 04, 2013
Eye Diseases: Laser Procedures
The laser beam helps to stabilize vision in the case of eye diseases: AMD, retinopathy, glaucoma and retinal diseases. His invention revolutionized ophthalmology. The earlier you act, the more effective it is. In most cases it is painless.
"This tool has become increasingly reliable and at the same time less and less expensive," explains Jean-Antoine Bernard, the scientific director of the French Society of Ophthalmology. It soon became essential to ophthalmologists, in the hospital as well as in the office of the city, both to treat the main eye diseases and to correct the majority of the refractive disorders.
Eye Diseases: Laser Procedures
By Émilie Salvaging and Agnès Duperrin December 21, 2011, modified July 04, 2013
• Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
The first cause of vision loss after fifty years, AMD is treated in some cases by laser. It is the macula (the central region of the retina) that ages too quickly and alters the visual acuity. At maturity, the disease is referred to as "dry form" or "wet form".
Treatment with direct laser photocoagulation: the treatment consists in destroying the neovessels (diseased part of the retina) by photocoagulation in order to stabilize the vision by preventing these vessels from gaining the healthy part of the retina. This treatment leaves a scar on the retina. A single session is often enough.
Treatment by photodynamic therapy: the principle consists in activating, thanks to a weak laser, a product previously injected into a vein (of the arm). In recent years, this technique has become the reference. With regular follow-up, the disease is stabilized.
Cost: Treatments for diseases of the retina or glaucoma are covered by Health Insurance. A laser session usually returns (excluding fees) to 125 € for glaucoma and 101 € for retinopathy.
Eye Diseases: Laser Procedures
By Émilie Salvaging and Agnès Duperrin December 21, 2011, modified July 04, 2013
• Chronic glaucoma, optic nerve disease
The laser treatment stops the evolution of glaucoma but it does not make it possible to recover the lost vision. Glaucoma is due to an increase in eye pressure. This pressure is easily measured in the ophthalmologist, hence the interest of regular checks.
In a case of acute glaucoma (rarer) risk, Yag or Argon lasers are useful for lowering the intraocular pressure. By making a small orifice in the iris, they promote the circulation and the evacuation of the liquid responsible for the excess pressure.
The intervention, often proposed preventively, is rapid, an anesthetic gout is enough. No hospitalization.
Cost: Treatments for diseases of the retina or glaucoma are covered by Health Insurance. A laser session usually returns (excluding fees) to 125 € for glaucoma and 101 € for retinopathy.
Eye Diseases: Laser Procedures
By Émilie Salvaging and Agnès Duperrin December 21, 2011, modified July 04, 2013
• Diseases of the retina
The Argon laser intervenes for diseases of the retina. It works by photocoagulation. "The radius produces a burn, followed by scarring, which welds the layers of the retina and is used locally in the prevention of retinal detachment or to destroy pathological areas," explains Dr. Saragoussi, an ophthalmologist at Paris.
The technique, sometimes proposed before the onset of symptoms (floating bodies, the perception of flashes), aims to create a solid cicatricial reaction that prevents a retinal detachment. As if one were pressing the tattered page of a book on the bottom page in the fragile place.
Simple intervention performed under local anesthesia (a few anesthetic drops), without hospitalization.
Cost: Treatments for diseases of the retina or glaucoma are covered by Health Insurance. A laser session usually returns (excluding fees) to 125 € for glaucoma and 101 € for retinopathy.
• Diabetic retinopathy
This disease is a common complication of diabetes. The laser does not improve, alas! Not vision but it can slow the evolution of the disorder. "Because of diabetes, the retina suffers because the microvessels that nourish it tend to become clogged, and the retina reacts by forming new, very fragile vessels that tend to bleed.Photocoagulation destroys the part of the retina reached and Stops the hemorrhage, "says Dr. Francis Ferrari, the ophthalmologist in Strasbourg. A painless operation.
Cost: Treatments for diseases of the retina or glaucoma are covered by Health Insurance. A laser session usually returns (excluding fees) to 125 € for glaucoma and 101 € for retinopathy.
And the cataract?
Cataract surgery is performed by ultrasound and not by laser. The most reliable procedure is to replace the opacified crystalline lens with an artificial lens. The latter often corrects at the same time myopia or other refractive disorder.
The laser is used as a result of the operation when cataract recovery is required. The surgeon leaves behind the posterior capsule, which, with time, can become opaque: we speak of secondary cataract. The laser Yag then makes an opening in the remaining capsule. In a few minutes, in a totally painless manner, the patient recovers the visual loss very quickly.
For the actual operation, the Femtosecond laser begins to be used to make the initial incision and to secure the intervention. But the significant additional cost to the patient (several hundred euros per eye) reduces the attractiveness of the laser as complications are rare with the current technique.
Glaucoma, AMD, cataract: prevention through diet
By Catherine Violet on 08 May 2010 modified on 08 September 2016
Glaucoma, AMD, cataract: prevention through diet
Food is one of the risk factors for glaucoma, according to a survey published on May 8. Eating well is also a way to prevent eye diseases: AMD, glaucoma, and cataract. Have your eye on your plate!
The role of diet in preventing cardiovascular disease is already known. But a new survey * establishes a close link between food and glaucoma, a pathology that affects the optic nerve. This disease, whose frequency increases with age, affects about 2% of the over 40 years in France.
The main known risk factor for glaucoma is high intraocular pressure. The survey reveals others, such as excess cholesterol and exposure to pesticides.
Conversely, it suggests that foods rich in omega 3 (nuts, fatty fish) would have a protective effect. Small consumers of walnuts (8 times per year or less) and fatty fish (once a week or less) are twice as likely to be affected. Further studies are needed to confirm the results and give specific recommendations ...
* PhotoGRAF survey, the first study on the risk factors for glaucoma presented on 8 May 2010 at the SFO (French Society of Ophthalmology) congress in Paris.
• Prevent AMD by an antioxidant cocktail
Numerous studies have already proved the value of diet in the prevention of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This disease, the leading cause of visual impairment after 50 years in industrialized countries, is an attack of the macula, an area in the center of the retina. In fact, accelerated aging of the retina by the formation of free radicals, under the effect of UV and tobacco ...
Some nutrients can oppose free radicals through their antioxidant or protective properties of the retina. They are mainly vitamins C and E, zinc and copper, omega 3 and lutein (a yellow pigment that plays both a UV filter and a free radical trap).
Dietary supplements may be prescribed by ophthalmologists to people with early signs of AMD. One study showed that a cocktail of high-dose antioxidants decreased the risk of disease progression by 25%.
Some principles to prevent the aging of the eye, responsible for degenerative diseases like AMD and cataract:
- vary the oils (vitamin E), preferring those of rapeseed and walnuts (omega 3);
- eat fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C (kiwis, strawberries, peppers, citrus fruits ...);
- not to remove offal, shellfish and dried pulses (zinc and copper);
- increase consumption of green vegetables well supplied with lutein and zeaxanthin (kale, spinach, watercress, broccoli, courgettes ...);
- put fish on the menu at least twice a week, preferring fatty fish for their richness in omega 3 (mackerel, sardines, anchovies, salmon, tuna, herring).
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