how do you treat gloucoma?

Question

it'' something related to the eyes, uhm, i've found answers in the internet but are there any more solutions for it? my dad has one right now and he has to use an eye medicine, which is very expensive, for a lifetime

Answer 1

Most people with glaucoma respond well to conventional treatment. Intraocular pressure can usually be controlled by the regular and sustained use of eye drops and medication, preventing any further loss of vision.

So,usage of eye-medication is a must. However, have a read at the following, they might be helpful

Recommendations and treatments for Glaucoma

1. Coffee Avoidance - single dose of caffeinated coffee (but not decaffeinated coffee) can increase intraocular pressure in persons with glaucoma.

2.Alpha lipoic acid - 150mg per day improves visual function in people with both stage I and stage II glaucoma.
3.EFA's - Fish oil supplement, liquid or soft gel
4. Vitamin C , 3x/day
5. Flavonoid Rutin , 20 mg, 3x/day
6. Magnesium

Answer 2

"Advocates of medicinal marijuana cite evidence that hemp products can lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in people with glaucoma. However, these products are less effective than safer and more available medicines. Most research regarding marijuana use took place before some current medications with fewer side effects were available."

Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington all currently have active medical marijuana programs. If you happen to live in one of these states you should check out your options. It is possible that a fat blunt might just do the trick.

Answer 3

Your local Department of Health should be able to assist you in finding help. Also, you might consider one of the "teaching" hospitals in the Detroit area. The University of Michigan has an excellent medical school. You should be able to get help from their hospital.

Answer 4

Treatment overview
Glaucoma is a chronic disorder that cannot be cured. Open-angle glaucoma often can be treated safely and effectively with medication or surgery, though lifelong therapy is almost always necessary. Decisions on when to start treatment are based on evidence of optic nerve damage, visual field loss, and risk factors (such as elevated intraocular pressure, or IOP, increasing age, and African-American or Hispanic background). The overall aim in the treatment of glaucoma is to prevent damage to the optic nerve by lowering IOP and maintaining it at a level that is unlikely to cause further nerve damage. The appropriate target for IOP is generally 25 percent below the IOP level at the time of diagnosis. If progressive damage is detected at the target IOP, a lower target is selected. Unfortunately, treatment cannot reverse optic nerve damage or improve vision.

Treatment
Although intraocular pressure is only one of the risk factors (albeit a major one) of glaucoma, lowering it via pharmaceuticals or surgery is currently the mainstay of glaucoma treatment. In Europe, Japan, and Canada laser treatment is often the first line of therapy. In the U.S., adoption of early laser has lagged, even though prospective, multi-centered, peer-reviewed studies, since the early '90's, have shown laser to be at least as effective as topical medications in controlling intraocular pressure and preserving visual field.


[edit] Drugs
Intraocular pressure can be lowered with medication, usually eye drops. There are several different classes of medications to treat glaucoma with several different medications in each class. Prostaglandin analogs like latanoprost (Xalatan), bimatoprost (Lumigan) and travoprost (Travatan) increase uveoscleral outflow of aqueous. Topical beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists such as timolol, levobunolol (Betagan) , and betaxolol decrease aqueous humor production by the ciliary body. Alpha2-adrenergic agonists such as brimonidine (Alphagan) work by a dual mechanism, decreasing aqueous production and increasing uveo-scleral outflow. Less-selective sympathomimetics like epinephrine and dipivefrin (Propine) increase outflow of aqueous humor through trabecular meshwork and possibly through uveoscleral outflow pathway, probably by a beta2-agonist action. Miotic agents (parasympathomimetics) like pilocarpine work by contraction of the ciliary muscle, tightening the trabecular meshwork and allowing increased outflow of aqueous through traditional pathways. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors like dorzolamide (Trusopt), brinzolamide (Azopt), acetazolamide (Diamox) lower secretion of aqueous humor by inhibiting carbonic anhydrase in the ciliary body. Each of these medicines may have local and systemic side effects. Adherence to the medication protocol can be confusing and expensive; if side effects occur, the patient must be willing either to tolerate these, or to communicate with the treating physician to improve the drug regimen.

Poor compliance with medications and follow-up visits is a major reason for vision loss in glaucoma patients. Patient education and communication must be ongoing to sustain successful treatment plans for this lifelong disease with no early symptoms.

Marijuana has been shown to lower the intraocular pressure in a few studies but this is generally not used clinically. Studies in the 1970s showed that marijuana, when smoked, lowers intraocular pressure.[7]. In an effort to determine whether marijuana, or drugs derived from marijuana, might be effective as a glaucoma treatment, the National Eye Institute supported research studies from 1978 to 1984. These studies demonstrated that some derivatives of marijuana lowered intraocular pressure when administered orally, intravenously, or by smoking, but not when topically applied to the eye. However, none of these studies demonstrated that marijuana -- or any of its components -- could safely and effectively lower intraocular pressure any more than a variety of drugs then on the market. In 2003, the American Academy of Ophthalmology released a position statement asserting that "no scientific evidence has been found that demonstrates increased benefits and/or diminished risks of marijuana use to treat glaucoma compared with the wide variety of pharmaceutical agents now available."

Get more information online about glaucoma

Answer 5

My eye doctor said that marijuana works, the only problem is George Bush.