Dr. Rohit Varma — HOW THE EYE WORKS
Glaucoma is an eye disease that steals your vision gradually. It usually has no symptoms and can result in sudden vision loss. Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve, which is the bundle of nerves that transmits information from our eyes to our brain. The optic nerve connects the back of each eye to the brain. When the nerve is damaged, the brain can’t receive information from that eye. Without this information, vision loss can occur. Glaucoma is a disease that damages the optic nerve, the nerve that connects your eye to your brain. The disease is usually painless, which can make it especially hard to tell if you’re at risk. The good news is that early detection and treatment with medications and surgery can greatly reduce the risk of blindness.
As we introduced you to Dr. Rohit Varma, M.D., an expert glaucoma eye surgeon. Here, he offers his thoughts on the ever-increasing number of people who are losing their sight to glaucoma. “According to the National Eye Institute, 3.3 million Americans age 40 and older have glaucoma,” says Varma. “Yet, most of these people are not even aware that they have the disease. That’s because there are often no symptoms in its early stages. It’s only when the disease goes untreated that people start seeing a gradual loss of peripheral vision.”
HOW THE EYE WORKS
The eye is a complex and delicate organ that allows us to see, but it also has another very important job: to keep the pressure inside your eye balanced with the surrounding pressure. This pressure is what keeps the watery fluid inside the eye from leaking out. Like anything, pressure can be either good or bad. In your body, when the pressure is too high, fluid will leak out. This is what happens with glaucoma.
Glaucoma is a group of diseases in which increased pressure within the eye gradually damages the optic nerve and can lead to vision loss and blindness. It is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, and the leading cause of blindness among African Americans. Unfortunately, most people have never heard of glaucoma. The eye is a hollow, delicate organ, which continually produces a clear fluid called aqueous humor. The aqueous humor flows through the eye to nourish and protect the eye’s innermost tissues and ultimately drains into the bloodstream through a network of small blood vessels at the back of the eye.
The human eye is an amazing organ. It is both similar to a camera and a telescope. In fact, in many respects, the human eye is a much better camera, camera and telescope combined. The eye has a lens that focuses light on the retina, which is a thin light-sensitive membrane lining the back of the eye. The retina is covered by a pigment layer that is “illuminated” by light. The retina also contains the “film” that is exposed to the light. The retina converts the light into electrical impulses that are then sent to the brain via the optic nerve. These impulses are converted into an image that we see.
Have you ever wondered how the eye works? Well, let’s start with the basics. The eye is made up of three parts: the outer layer or sclera; the middle layer, the choroid; and the inner layer, the retina. The choroid contains the blood vessels that supply the retina with oxygen. The sclera, the outer layer, is the white part of your eye. The sclera is hard, tough, and opaque. The sclera helps to support and protect the eye. The eye has a jelly-like substance between the sclera and the retina to help it move with the eye. The retina is the part of the eye that sends images to the brain.
In fact, the adult eye is constantly making adjustments to suit the light conditions. If you live in a cloudy region, your pupils may be more constricted, because the pupils tighten to let in less light. In the bright sunlight, your pupils contract to let in less light. The pupil also contracts when you look at a light source. These adjustments all work to bring light in to the eye. Usually, the eye lens is the part of the eye that controls the amount of light that comes in.
A healthy drain
When you have glaucoma, the drainage channels become blocked, causing pressure to build up in the eye and damage the optic nerve, which leads from the eye to the brain. The damage can be mild or severe, and may be experienced as a gradual reduction in peripheral vision, or — in the most severe cases — a sudden, acute loss of the vision in one or both eyes. Here, we speak with Dr. Rohit Varma, a glaucoma specialist and surgeon from London who explains what glaucoma is how it is diagnosed, and how it can be treated.
If you have glaucoma, you may have heard that the eye’s drainage system can be blocked. But what does that mean, and how is it treated?
Dr. Rohit Varma is an expert glaucoma surgeon who has been dedicating his life to help people from all over the world. Dr. Varma has been practicing in the same clinic located in London for more than 15 years. His clinic is the first of its kind in the City where glaucoma is treated using a wide range of different surgical techniques. At present Dr. Varma is involved in the development of a new surgical technique that will revolutionize the treatment of glaucoma around the world!
Dr. Rohit Varma has been practicing ophthalmology for more than 18 years. He completed his fellowship in glaucoma at Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is a glaucoma specialist and has been awarded the fellowship of the American College of Ophthalmology. He is also a specialty board examiner and a reviewer for the American Board of Ophthalmology. Dr. Varma has been awarded the distinction of “Top Doctors” in Glaucoma by Baltimore Magazine.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States and affects more than 3 million Americans. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can cause people to lose vision if it’s not detected and treated. It occurs when fluid pressure builds up in your eye, damaging the optic nerve. The pressure can be from the flow of fluid into your eye or a blockage in the fluid’s normal flow out of the eye.
As the world celebrates glaucoma awareness month this October, we talked to Dr. Rohit Varma, glaucoma specialist and author of “The Healthy Drain”, to get his tips on how to make your drain healthier and how he deals with drain blockage.
