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| Assessing risks of treatment |
Everything in life has risks. Perhaps trying to cross the streets of Delhi is more risky as is having a blueline bus in your vicinity. Treatment in glaucoma is usually started when the risks of not being treated and going blind are higher than the risks of therapy. All choices have risks. Some factors taken into account when deciding upon the appropriate treatment include :-
- How advanced the glaucoma is in each eye
- Family history of glaucoma
- Other eye problems excluding glaucoma
- Life expectancy
- Life style
- Visual needs
- Medical history
- Medications for other diseases
- Allergies to medications
- The degree of damage from glaucoma
- The rate at which the glaucoma has progressed or is progressing
- The degree of damage caused by glaucoma which is already present in the eye before the beginning of thereapy
Based on these and other factors one decide's what the best course of action is . Since decision making involves teamwork, positive and negative aspects of several alternatives options would need to be discussed with you and those who accompany you.
Excerpts from the lecture "Current Perspectives in Medical Management of Glaucoma" by Dr. Devindra Sood at the meeting organized by the Ophthalmic Society of Alwar, Rajasthan, September 2008 |
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