When developing a teaching session on glaucoma for the community, which of the following statements would the nurse stress?
A. Glaucoma is easily corrected with eyeglasses.
B. White and Asian individuals are at the highest risk for glaucoma.
C. Yearly screening for people ages 20-40 years is recommended.
D. Glaucoma can be painless and vision may be lost before the person is aware of a problem.
Correct Answer: D. Glaucoma can be painless and vision may be lost before the person is aware of a problem.
Open-angle glaucoma causes a painless increase in intraocular pressure (IOP) with loss of peripheral vision. The patient with POAG is often asymptomatic until the optic nerve damage is severe unless signs of early glaucoma are recognized on a routine eye exam. Open-angle glaucoma typically manifests as slow, painless damage to the optic nerve that is thought to be due to the drainage system in the eye becoming ineffective.
Option A: A variety of miotics and agents to decrease IOP and occasional surgery are used to treat glaucoma. Open-angle glaucoma is generally managed initially with medications to lower eye pressure. Medication classes include prostaglandin analogs, beta-blockers, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, an alpha-2 agonist, miotic agents, and more recently rho-kinase inhibitors and nitric-oxide donating medications.
Option B: Blacks have a threefold greater chance of developing with an increased chance of blindness than other groups. The African population has the highest prevalence of open-angle type. The likelihood of blindness from open-angle glaucoma is up to 15-times greater in those of African-decent compared to other population groups.
Option C: Individuals older than 40 should be screened. While there are congenital, infantile, development glaucomas, and a juvenile variant of POAG, the four previously mentioned glaucoma types typically occur in people over the age of 40. The cause is generally correlated with increased intraocular pressure, though it has not been proven to have a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
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