Glaucoma is actually a group of eye diseases that cause optic nerve damage and permanent loss of vision if left untreated. It is one of the more common eye diseases and is directly caused by a buildup of excess fluid, which puts increased pressure on your optic nerves and can cause irreparable damage and blindness. It develops slowly and is painless, so while it can be difficult to notice right away it can be spotted with regular eye exams. Here is a quick guide to prevent, spot, and treat glaucoma.

Signs & Symptoms

The first overt symptoms of Glaucoma is the deterioration of your peripheral vision before central vision loss. The next step is your other eye has trying to make up the difference of your loss of peripheral vision, so you or someone who sees your eyes might notice that one of your eyes seems to be angled inwards. Here are other common symptoms:

• Cloudy vision
• Severe eye pain in either eye
• Feeling nauseous
• Having red eye
• Experiencing a headache centralized over the eyebrow

It is important to realize that by the time these symptoms appear, your glaucoma is already is in its advanced stage. You probably were showing signs of it for a while before it gets to that stage, which is why it is so important to have regular eye exams as they can spot the early signs ahead of time.

Prevention

Thankfully, glaucoma is an eye disease that can be prevented. The first way is to have regular eye exams so your optometrist can spot it and treat it before it gets to the advanced stage. While some people are genetically more likely to get glaucoma, there are things you can do to prevent it. Common risk factors for glaucoma include:

• Eye pressure — the most important risk factor for glaucoma
• High blood pressure — affects the blood flow to the eye which can affect eye pressure
• Migraines — people with glaucoma often also have migraines but there is no direct cause
• Obesity — diabetic retinopathy restricts blood flow to the eye and is caused by diabetes, and people who are obese are higher risks to be diabetic

So if you want to prevent glaucoma or at least lower your risk for getting it, you can start by being healthier. If you are obese or have high blood pressure, consult your doctor and start eating better and exercising to get your weight and blood pressure under control. If you feel pressure in your eyes or experience migraines with any frequency, see your doctor and make sure you get eye exams.

Treatment

Treatment of glaucoma depends on the severity of the disease. An ophthalmologist can prescribe liquid eye drops to help relieve your eye pressure and reduce your risk of contracting it. However, depending on how advanced your glaucoma is surgery might be necessary to correct it. Surgery is useful for improving the flow of fluid in the eye and getting rid of the pressure that causes the problem, but it can’t reverse any loss of vision that’s already happened.

If you are someone who is more at risk for glaucoma, either because of your genetics or blood pressure, it cannot be stressed enough that you should schedule regular eye exams to spot early signs of glaucoma so you can get treatment before you experience any permanent vision loss.

Color blindness is something that is often misunderstood. Despite what most people think, being color blind does not mean you are completely unable to see any color or you only see in black, white and grey. Almost every person who is color blind simply has trouble distinguishing between certain colors—most commonly they can’t tell the difference between reds, greens and blues.

For example, if a person can’t see red colors and tones they might have trouble distinguishing between purple and blue. This is because without the red tint in purple, it will look blue to them. It is very rare that a person would not be able to see any colors at all.

What Causes Color Blindness?

In 99% of cases of color blindness the cause is genetics. There are cells called ‘cone cells’ inside your retinas that are what allow you to sense red, green and blue light, and the strength of these cells are passed down through your mother’s X Chromosomes. Your mother might have genes that are deficient in producing these cells, or just producing them as strongly, even if she is not herself colorblind.

This is also why men are colorblind far more often than women—around 1 in 12 men have the condition as opposed to 1 in 200 women. This is because women have two X Chromosomes whereas men only have one, so they are more likely to receive the gene that passes on the deficient cone cells.

There are other causes of color blindness, but they only account for around 1% of all cases. Here are some of the more common non-genetic causes that can cause it:

• Diseases & health conditions such as Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis
• Eye conditions such as Glaucoma, age-related Macular Degeneration, and cataracts
• Eye and brain injuries
• Aging and some medication side effects

Depending on your specific case, there might be some cures or treatment for color blindness that can partially restore your ability to distinguish colors.

How Is Color Blindness Diagnosed?

Because color blindness is not so obvious, it can be difficult to detect. Why would you ever ask to be tested if colors look normal to you? You still see colors, but it might take a while for you to realize that you see different colors than most people and it is because you are seeing them incorrectly.

If you want to be tested, you can ask your doctor or optometrist to test your color vision. There are several tests that can be performed, but here are the more common ones:

• Ishihara test—you are shown plates with dots in two different colors and one color forms a number
• Farnsworth-Munsell hue test—you are given various colored plates and you must arrange them in a given order
• Color Arrangement test—you are given one colored tile and asked to arrange other colored tiles in order of similarity to the original

In all three of these tests, and in most basic color blindness tests, it is a simple way of showing whether the person can distinguish between certain colors and hues. They will reveal if a person confuses certain colors or if they are unable of seeing some of them.

There are also more advanced tests that are usually done to screen people from certain careers that rely on your ability to see all colors accurately, such as pilots or train conductors.

Are There Any Treatments Or Cures For Color Blindness?

Color blindness caused by genetics does not improve over time, which is why it is important for parents to have their children tested early in their lives, as it is easier to reduce its impact or correct the condition with special lenses that can filter light for them. Certain injuries, diseases or medication side effects that cause color blindness might be able to be reversed or corrected, and again it is easier to manage if you are diagnosed early.

There is no common cure for color blindness, but there are some new studies and research that shows there might be one day in the not too distant future. Things like Gene Therapy have been used successfully on color-blind monkeys to cure the condition, but human trials have not been approved yet. There is another potential cure in the form of a single Adeno-associated virus injection that has shown similar promise and might soon begin human trials in 2017.

Such cures are not likely to become common or easily accessible to people any time soon, and when they do they will undoubtedly be expensive to begin with. But there is hope that it could happen in our lifetime.

To learn more about color blindness, treatments and diagnosis or to book an eye exam, contact your local eye doctor today.

If you have diabetes, you are at a greater risk of various sight issues and eye-related conditions that could cause partial or total loss of vision. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among adults and one of the most common is Diabetic Retinopathy.

What Is Diabetic Retinopathy?

Diabetic Retinopathy is a condition that people with diabetes can suffer when their level of blood sugar is above a certain level for a long period of time. The blood sugar blocks the blood vessels that maintain your retinas’ health, and when your body tries to make new blood vessels they’re not as strong. Eventually your retinas weaken and get damaged enough that you go completely blind.

Early symptoms include:

• Decreased central vision—you’ll notice it when you are reading or driving
• Inability to see colours as clearly or at all
• General blurry vision
• Holes or black spots in your vision

If you have diabetes and experience any of these symptoms you should immediately see your doctor. They will run some tests and book you for a special eye exam, but it is also advisable to have regular eye exams done by an optometrist.

Why Is Regular Testing Important?

People who have diabetes in any form are strongly recommended to have annual dilated retina exams. These are not conducted at your usual check up every year, but is a more thorough test performed by a specialist to check for early signs of Diabetic Retinopathy. The reason why it is recommended is because early diagnosis and treatment can help you avoid loss of vision.

Eye doctors and specialists recommend you have these exams every one or two years depending on factors:

• The type of diabetes you have (type 1 or 2)
• How long you’ve had diabetes
• How often your blood sugar levels change
• How well controlled your blood sugar levels are

In general, the longer you live with diabetes and the more severe your type is, the more likely you are to develop Diabetic Retinopathy. Regular eye exams can also help spot, diagnose and treat other eye conditions diabetic people are prone to such as glaucoma or Diabetic macular edema.

How Can I Protect Myself?

If you want to know what you can do on your own to keep your eyes healthy and avoid Diabetic Retinopathy, there are a number of things you can do:

• Maintain good blood sugar levels with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and insulin use
• Maintain good blood pressure since Retinopathy is more likely to develop if you have high levels
• Have regular eye exams from your specialist to spot early symptoms
• Check with an ophthalmologist if you experience any eye pain or changes in your vision

You can also avoid things that are likely to exacerbate things like blood vessel health and blood pressure levels, such as smoking, weight lifting, or contact sports. Regular exercise is important, however, as they help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Make sure you consult with your doctor to figure out a safe exercise regimen.

When was the last time you had an eye exam? Depending on your age, you may need eye exams on a different schedule. Children to late adolescents will want to schedule an appointment at least once every year. Growing eyes can undergo rapid changes that could mean serious new needs for your eyes.

If you’re a younger to middle-aged adult, you probably don’t expect your vision to change very much. Many believe that an exam every two years is okay for someone in this age group, but on that schedule, it can be very easy to simply let eye exams fall by the wayside.

Not updating your prescription regularly can present very real dangers. Those dangers include missing out on important things such as…

Changing Prescription

If you don’t have an eye appointment often enough, you may not notice when your prescription changes. The differences may happen so gradually that you don’t even notice that you are starting to strain to see things that you once saw easily. By the time your prescription is completely outdated, you may be the last person to know.

If you see an eye doctor regularly, you’ll be able to keep your prescription as up-to-date as possible. Your glasses will always be the healthiest and most relaxing for your vision. All it takes is a short appointment to establish a new prescription, so stop by to see our eye doctors today.

New Features for Glasses and Contacts

Your prescription isn’t the only thing that may be out of date if you haven’t been to see the eye doctor in many years. The technology of glasses and contacts has changed a lot in even just the past few years. If you’re stuck wearing an older pair, you may be completely unaware of all the ways that your life could be better.

New technology for glasses includes such interesting options as transition sunglass lenses, anti-fog, anti-shatter & anti-glare selections. Contacts these days are being built lighter, thinner and safer than ever before. We can introduce you to some of our newest technology if you come in for a visit.

Serious Medical Issues

Infrequent eye exams can mean serious health issues go undetected. While many eye disorders have symptoms that can be easily identified, that is not true for all of them. Some disorders don’t produce any symptoms at all, and you wouldn’t recognize them if you weren’t a trained eye doctor performing a close exam.

Not all eye problems are related to diseases. Sometimes, the eye will simply age incorrectly as time goes on. For many reasons, it’s important to have an eye doctor take a close look at your vision every year or so. You don’t want to take any risks when it comes to your ability to see correctly

Has it been awhile since you upgraded your bifocals, or are you perhaps considering these types of glasses for the first time? You’ve picked the perfect time to jump into, or back into, the world of bifocals. Over the last few years, the technology available for bifocals has only gotten better, and these special types of glasses offer you more features and comfort than ever before.

Bifocals are glasses designed for people who have problems with both near and farsighted vision. The lower half of bifocal lenses can be used to more clearly see close objects, while the top half of the lenses can be used to view objects that are far away. The original style of producing bifocals involved fusing half-lenses together. Such glasses had very sharp lines in the middle, and were capable of breaking more easily.

Those problems and more have been solved by the newest generation of specs. Here are some of the enjoyable features you can expect when you purchase bifocals these days.

No More Annoying Lines

The sharp lines which once marked where the top and bottom half of the lens were separated have been removed by modern production techniques. Now, bifocals appear as a single, crystal-clear lens. Because many lenses these days are not made of glass, but instead plastic composites, it’s easy to manufacture a single lens that has different properties on different parts.

Pleasantly Light and Thin

Bifocal glasses once had a reputation as being uncomfortably heavy. Worse even, they weren’t very well balanced between the weights of the top and bottom half of the lenses. This could make them unstable on the face and just generally uncomfortable in general. Those new composites we talked about, however, are also surprisingly light and getting lighter.

As technology improves even further, better vision is capable with less and less material, making lenses lighter than they’ve ever been.

Endless New Features for Your Bifocal Lenses

Bifocals were not known as the most adaptable lenses in the past, but that has changed. Now, there are dozens of different lens treatments available at our eyecare clinic in British Columbia.  When you’ve picked your frame and lenses, you can pick from treatments such as sunglasses shading, transition lenses, anti-glare and anti-fog.

Pick Up New Bifocal Lenses Today

We would love to speak with you if you’re interested in seeing what today’s bifocal has to offer. Our helpful optometrists and technicians can answer all of your questions when you arrive. Scheduling an eye exam before you arrive will mean that you get the best and most up-to-date prescription for your new bifocals.

You can schedule an appointment right here if you are interested in trying out new glasses soon. We look forward to hearing from you.