Glaucoma Treatment: Q & A With Dr. Shahzad Saeed

Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, the health of which is vital for good vision. This damage is often caused by abnormally high pressure in your eye. However, glaucoma treatment is available. Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness for people over the age of 60.

Dr. Shahzad Saeed is an expert eye specialist in Islamabad. He is an MCPS qualified eye-specialist with over 26 years of experience.

In this session with oladoc, he discusses a crucial eye disease called glaucoma. During the interview, he answered various questions related to the symptoms, causes, and treatments of the very condition. 

Q1. What is glaucoma?

Well, glaucoma is a neurological disease of the eye. In simple Urdu, it is referred to as “kaala motia”. The problem with glaucoma is that it damages the optic nerve and certain layers of the retina. And the issue that this damage caused to the retina is irreversible. And the second issue is that primary open-ended glaucoma which is the most common form of glaucoma that we see in our practice.

Q2. What are the early signs of glaucoma?

Primary, open-angle glaucoma doesn’t have any open symptoms or signs. Advanced cases of primary glaucoma do give visual field defects and decreased vision. At that point, the patient usually comes to us with these symptoms.

Q3. What happens if you have undiagnosed glaucoma?

So, if a patient has glaucoma and it goes undiagnosed for a while, then slowly and steadily the optic nerve tend to gets damaged and cause permanent deterioration of the eye ranging from 6/60 to even perception of light negative. This vision cannot be recovered even if the pressure, later on, is controlled by medication or surgery. So, most patients usually don’t come to us with any symptoms of glaucoma.

Q4. How long does it take to go blind from glaucoma?

Well, the damage from glaucoma is dependent on multiple factors but the main factor is the intraocular pressure. Normal intraocular pressure ranges from 10mm Hg to 21mm Hg. If the intraocular pressure is greater than 21 mm Hg, the damage to the optic nerve becomes certain in a matter of months.

Q5. What is the best treatment for glaucoma?

The number one treatment is the medical treatment in which we have a range of medication available. So, we start with one drug and for every patient, we start a target pressure. IF recovery seems probable with the medication, then we continue on that. Otherwise, we give them lasers and also have surgical options. Surgical options include trabeculectomy and glaucoma shunts on case to case basis.

If you want to learn more about glaucoma, then watch the full interview. If you have any eye-related concerns, consult an eye specialist right away.

You can book an appointment with a top eye specialist through oladoc.com, or call our helpline at 042-3890-0939 for assistance to find the RIGHT professional for your concerns.