Table of contents:
- Maintain eye pressure, glaucoma prevention efforts
- 1. Regular exercise
- 2. Drink tea every day
- 3. Check eye conditions regularly
- 4. Eat nutritious foods
- What if my eye pressure is already high?
- 1. Using eye pressure-lowering drugs
- 2. Use of the drug metformin
Glaucoma is a disease caused by high eye pressure (intraocular), causing damage to the optic nerve. This condition can lead to permanent blindness. That is why you need to know what form of glaucoma prevention is right, from avoiding high eye pressure to staying away from existing risk factors. Check out the full explanation here.
Maintain eye pressure, glaucoma prevention efforts
High eye pressure, known medically as ocular hypertension, is one of the biggest risk factors for glaucoma.
Generally, normal eye pressure ranges from 10-20 mmHg. People with high eye pressure don't necessarily have glaucoma. They also may not experience glaucoma symptoms. However, their chances of suffering from glaucoma are greater than those with normal eye pressure.
It is important to remember that ocular hypertension is not the same as glaucoma. In the case of ocular hypertension, the optic nerves appear normal and there are no signs of vision loss. If the optic nerves have started to be damaged due to high eye pressure, it could indicate that the eye has been affected by glaucoma.
Glaucoma itself is caused by damage to the optic nerve due to high intraocular (eyeball) pressure. That is why, maintaining normal eye pressure is the main way to prevent glaucoma.
There are several ways to keep eye pressure normal as an effort to prevent glaucoma, namely:
1. Regular exercise
In some cases, the cause of glaucoma is certain diseases or health conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension. That is why, regular exercise can help prevent you from diabetes and hypertension. This means that you also prevent the risk of glaucoma at the same time.
According to Dr. Harry A. Quigley, as quoted from the Glaucoma Research Foundation website, the type of exercise that is believed to be the most effective at reducing eye pressure is aerobics. Several studies have also shown that aerobics can help improve blood flow to the retina and optic nerves in the eye.
As an effort to prevent glaucoma, you don't need to do too much exercise. You can try walking briskly for 20 minutes, and do it about 4 times a week.
2. Drink tea every day
Another way to prevent glaucoma is to regularly drink tea every day. How does drinking tea reduce the risk of getting glaucoma?
This was revealed in a study published in British Journal Ophthalmology . The study involved 84 adult respondents, and they were asked about their drinking habits of coffee, hot tea, decaffeinated tea, soft drinks, and other sweet drinks that were drunk during the past 12 months.
Research has found that people who regularly consume hot tea have a 74 percent lower risk of glaucoma than those who don't.
3. Check eye conditions regularly
High eye pressure sometimes causes no symptoms and makes people feel fine. That is why, one of the most important forms of prevention before you are already exposed to ocular hypertension is to have regular eye checkups.
An eye exam is also mandatory if you are starting at the age of 40 or have other diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension. The reason is, the two diseases also trigger high eye pressure in several types of glaucoma.
4. Eat nutritious foods
You can also prevent glaucoma by changing your daily menu. Choose foods with nutrients that are beneficial for your eye health.
Some of the recommended food ingredients are dark green or yellow vegetables and fruits because of the carotenoid content in them. Carotenoids are believed to protect the eyes from various disorders, including glaucoma. Vegetables and fruits that you can try to prevent glaucoma include:
- broccoli
- spinach
- great
- long beans
- sweet potato
- mango
- yellow peppers
What if my eye pressure is already high?
If you have been diagnosed with ocular hypertension, there are a number of things you can do so that this high eye pressure does not cause glaucoma.
Checking the eyes regularly is the main and most recommended way to prevent high eye pressure leading to glaucoma. That way, glaucoma can be treated from the earliest phase.
Not only that, there are other ways you can consider preventing glaucoma if you already have ocular hypertension, namely:
1. Using eye pressure-lowering drugs
Yes, the way that is believed to be the most effective way to prevent ocular hypertension from developing into glaucoma is of course by reducing the pressure on the eyeball. By taking preventive medications, the risk of developing glaucoma can be reduced by up to 50 percent.
The type of medication to lower eye pressure that is most widely prescribed is eye drops. These drugs work by reducing the amount of fluid produced by the eye, as well as improving the rate of drainage (discharge) in the eye. This way, the pressure in the eyeball will gradually decrease as the drainage of the eye improves.
However, it is important to know that not all cases of ocular hypertension should be treated with eye drops. The administration of the drops depends on how much pressure your eyeball is.
2. Use of the drug metformin
If you have diabetes as well as ocular hypertension, regular consumption of the diabetes drug metformin also helps in preventing the risk of developing glaucoma.
A study from JAMA Ophthalmology collected data for 10 years from 150 thousand diabetes patients over the age of 40. Patients with the highest dose of metmorphine were then compared with people who did not take the diabetes mellitus drug at all.
As a result, the study found that patients who took high doses of metformin had a 25 percent lower risk of developing glaucoma when compared with patients who did not take metmorphine.
However, can metformin be consumed in people with ocular hypertension who do not have diabetes? Considering that the above research was conducted on diabetic patients, the conclusion that the drug metformin can prevent the risk of glaucoma is still limited to diabetics only.
Fortunately, experts are currently developing an updated version of the drug metformin. That way, it is hoped that this drug can be consumed by people with ocular hypertension as a prevention of glaucoma, even if they do not have diabetes.
