Talk:Glaucoma

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[edit] Re: Risk factors and diagnosis

In this section, the author(s) mention that Blacks (along with diabetics) have a higher risk of developing open-angle glaucoma, while Asians are more likely to develop angle-closure glaucoma. While I have no doubt that these passages may be statistically true, the presence of these assertions without any causal explanation is problematic.

People who are ill-informed about human anatomy will take this to mean that certain races will get one form of glaucoma more than others; in other words, they will think that Black people are only at risk for open-angle glaucoma, which is in no way true. Since race doesn't exist within human biology, it cannot be true. So it must be environmental factors that cause these differences. This should have been explained in the article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Pinko1977 (talk • contribs).

I disagree with nearly every point.
  • For the scope of this article, asserting that Blacks are more likely to develop POAG and that Asians are more likely to develop ACG is completely accurate. A section detailing other risk factors and what is currently known regarding the pathogenesis of glaucoma would not contradict that assertion.
  • I fail to see how those without a background in anatomy would conclude that Blacks are only at risk for POAG from that assertion; for example, one does not infer that only teenage drivers get in traffic accidents from the assertion that teenage drivers are more likely to get in traffic accidents.
  • Regarding "race doesn't exist within human biology" - It sure does when you're in the clinic assessing risk factors and deciding whether or not to put a patient on Xalatan for what could be the rest of his or her life.
  • I fail to see how one would infer that environmental factors are the reason that Blacks are more likely to develop POAG and that Asians are more likely to develop ACG.
AED 06:17, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

i must agree with this last post. race is most certainly important and directly related to certain diseases, and glaucoma is one of them. i must infer the the first two posters in this section are not ophthalmologists or they would know this. and glaucoma is by far not the only example of this; diabetes is more prevalent in blacks, even after you account for known environmental factors. 24.28.169.144 13:06, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

The following was removed: "A 2004 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests that heavy computer users may be at a higher risk for the disease. [1]" The study states that heavy computer users with refractive error may be at a higher risk for glaucoma. The relationship to computer use is correlative, not causal. The stronger link to glaucoma appears to be myopia.AED 06:47, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Pigmentary dispersion

One congenital form of glaucoma is where the iris is mis-shaped (posterior bowing of the iris) and causes pigment to disperse into the eye. The pigmentary dispersion can then cause blockages in Schlemm's canal, which raises the IOP (in my case, I had IOPs in excess of 40 mm Hg). Having this occur to me, and having been one of the early patients to be diagnosed as such (by Dr. Joel Riesman of the Boston University Eye Associates), the course of treatment was to have laser surgery (I believe laser peripheral iridectomy) to burn a hole in the iris of each eye. The fluid then corrected the shape of the iris due to the IOP which caused the dispersion to stop. It is unknown if the pigment will eventually drain out of the eye or not over time.

Some references:

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Stormerider (talk • contribs).

[edit] Comment

I'm a very lowly medical researcher. I haven't been involved in glaucoma research for years - but I think the article would benefit from mention of the role of ischaemic damage in glaucoma, and how this ties in with defects in the systemic circulation such as Reynauds and migraine.Notreallydavid 23:32, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed Block of Text

I removed the block of text below, because the spelling and grammar makes me suspect the source. It would be good information to have, though, so if someone wants to put it back with some citations, that would be nifty. --Mdwyer 05:49, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

WHAT CAUSES GLAUCOMA? clear liquid called aqueous humor circulates inside the front portion of the eye. To maintain a healthy level of pressure within the eye, a small amount of this fluid is produced constantly while an equal amount lfows out of the eye through a misroscopic drainage system. (This liquid is not part of the tears on the outer surface of the eye.) Because the eye is a closed structure, if the drainage area for the aqueous humor-called the drainage angle-is blocked, the excess fluid cannot flow out of the eye. Fluid pressure within the eye increase, pushing against the optic nerve and causing damage.

[edit] Malignant Glaucoma

I saw this word in my doctors folder Asesstment: Malignant Glaucoma 05 what does this mean? I asked her and she said it was cili- something —The preceding unsigned comment was added by JanieL612 (talk • contribs) 16:56, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

Ask your doctor to WRITE DOWN the medical term because no one else should be asked to take the responsibility of guessing what you might have heard. Here is a list of synonyms and related keywords: malignant glaucoma, ciliary block glaucoma, aqueous misdirection syndrome, ciliovitreolenticular block, ciliolenticular glaucoma, ciliolenticular block glaucoma, ciliovitreal block glaucoma, direct lens block angle-closure glaucoma, blindness, vision loss - from http://www.emedicine.com/oph/topic134.htm Cuddlyable3 20:26, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nicknamed? By whom?

Glaucoma has been nicknamed "the sneak thief of sight".

Could there be some sort of attestation to the source of this nickname? I've not particularly heard of it, and I suppose it's possible that it's a widely used nickname, and I just haven't heard of it, but it would still be nice to see see some sort of sourcing within the statement itself as to who nicknamed it. --Puellanivis 18:47, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

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