Global Ophthalmology and Glaucoma Conference October 13-15, 2016 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Secondary glaucoma is caused due to the effect of other diseases in our body. If we total up all those with glaucoma in the world, the secondary ones are still a fair number, maybe 10% of all glaucoma. They much more often affect one eye and not both eyes, unlike primary open angle or angle closure that affect both eyes. Probably the most common secondary glaucoma in the developed world are those that come from having new blood vessels grow in the meshwork and block outflow of aqueous the neovascular glaucomas. This usually happens when the retina does not have enough blood supply. This leads to production of a chemical called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that floats around the inside of the eye, making new vessels to get blood flowing. The problem is that the new vessels grow the wrong places, messing up vision, detaching the retina and causing glaucoma. 

Glaucoma is a condition that causes damage to your eye's optic nerve and gets worse over time. It's often associated with a buildup of pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma tends to be inherited and may not show up until later in life. The increased pressure, called intraocular pressure, can damage the optic nerve, which transmits images to the brain. If damage to the optic nerve from high eye pressure continues, glaucoma will cause permanent loss of vision. Without treatment, glaucoma can cause total permanent blindness within a few years. .Because most people with glaucoma have no early symptoms or pain from this increased pressure, it is important to see your eye doctor regularly so that glaucoma can be diagnosed and treated before long-term visual loss occurs.

Open-angle glaucoma (OAG), most people with OAG have no symptoms when they are diagnosed. You may have some side vision loss, but you may not notice it until the vision loss becomes severe. This is because the less affected eye makes up for your vision loss. The loss of sharpness of vision (visual acuity) may not become apparent until late in the disease. Closed-angle glaucoma (CAG) may cause no symptoms. Or symptoms may range from mild to severe. They usually affect only one eye at a time. Diagnostic tools which aid in determining whether or not you have glaucoma even before you have any symptoms. Measuring intraocular pressure (tonometry), Testing for optic nerve damage Checking for areas of vision loss (visual field test), Measuring corneal thickness (pachymetry) Inspecting the drainage angle (gonioscopy).

Conjunctivitis antibacterial eye drops can cure bacterial conjunctivitis. Antihistamines, in the form of eye drops, or a pill or syrup, can often improve allergic conjunctivitis. Corneal abrasions these heal on their own with time but often are treated with antibiotic ointments. Glaucoma eye pain is treated urgently with eye drops and occasionally with pills to reduce eye pressure. If these don't work, surgery may be needed. Infections of the cornea these may require antiviral or antibacterial eye drops. Iritiscan be treated with steroid, antibiotic, or antiviral eye drops. Optic neuritis can be treated with corticosteroids. Styes  are usually cured by applying regular warm compresses at home for a few days.

Prescription medicines to lower the pressure inside the eye (intraocular pressure, or IOP) are used to treat all types of glaucoma. They work either by reducing the amount of fluid (aqueous humor) that is produced by the eye or by increasing the amount of fluid that drains out of the eye. These medicines may be given as eyedrops, as pills, in liquid form by mouth, or through a vein (in emergency situations). In most cases, eyedrops are used first. In congenital glaucoma, medicines may be used to decrease the pressure in the eyes and reduce the cloudiness of the clear front surface (cornea) of the child's eye. Medicines are usually only used until surgery can be done. When glaucoma has already caused vision loss, further vision loss may occur even after the pressure in the eye is lowered to the normal range with medicine. Talk to your doctor about the goals of treatment, how long the medicine will be tried, and the possible side effects. Eye medicines can cause symptoms throughout the body. Medicines that decrease the amount of fluid produced by the eye include.

The cornea and lens focus light onto the retina, the transparent, light-sensitive structure at the back of the eye. The central area of the retina, called the macula, contains a high density of color-sensitive photoreceptor (light-sensing) cells. These cells, called cones, produce the sharpest visual images and are responsible for central and color vision. The peripheral area of the retina, which surrounds the macula, contains photoreceptor cells called rods, which respond to lower light levels but are not color sensitive. The rods are responsible for peripheral vision and night vision. The optic nerve carries signals generated by the photoreceptors (cones and rods). Each photoreceptor is joined to the optic nerve by a tiny nerve branch. The optic nerve is connected to nerve cells that carry signals to the vision center of the brain, where they are interpreted as visual images.

Childhood glaucoma is an unusual eye disease and significant cause of childhood blindness. It is caused by disease related abnormal increase in intraocular pressure. The multiple potential causes fall into one of two categories and may be primary or secondary to some other disease process. Primary congenital glaucoma results from abnormal development of the ocular drainage system. It occurs in about 1 out of 10,000 births in the United States and is the most common form of glaucoma in infants. Secondary glaucomas result from disorders of the body or eye and may or may not be genetic. Both types may be associated with other medical diseases.

The adoption of new surgical approaches into a physician practice that treats a chronic disease like glaucoma is no simple matter. The slow course of the disease makes it difficult for researchers and developers of new surgical approaches to determine if patients fare better with the new intervention, often taking many years and several large studies to achieve a reasonable degree of certainty. Additionally, since the most common classic glaucoma surgeries shunts and trabeculectomy are associated with some potentially hazardous outcomes, when surgical intervention is considered for a patient the disease is often serious enough that vision is threatened.

The present invention provides benzothiadiazine and chroman derivatives and particularly diazoxide and cromakalim derivatives for use in treating glaucoma, retinopathy, treating age related macular degeneration, treating, stabilizing and/or inhibiting blood and lymph vascularization, and reducing intraocular pressure by administering a pharmaceutically effective amount of a prodrug disposed in an ophthalmically acceptable carrier to the eye, wherein the prodrug specifically modulates a KATP channel to reduce an intraocular pressure.

Many new developments on the research front suggest the battle against glaucoma is turning. New drugs are now entering the clinic, along with new ways to deliver them. There is growing consensus that the future of glaucoma management will be based more on the optic nerve pathway from the retina to the visual cortex, and not strictly limited to improving outflow. EuroTimes takes a look at what glaucoma treatment may look like in the not-too-distant future.

Glaucoma disease can be controlled even with effective treatment, patients must have regular eye examinations. Treatment often continues for the patient's lifetime. Although burdensome, lifelong treatment is preferable to vision loss. Lowering the intraocular pressure (IOP) is the focus of treating patients with glaucoma. Lowering IOP is done to a level that is not likely to cause further optic nerve damage; this level is referred to as the target pressure and is determined by the ophthalmologist. High IOP may damage the optic nerve, which can lead to vision loss. The level differs for each patient, and a patient's target pressure may change during the course of a lifetime. For open-angle glaucoma (the most common type), the ophthalmologist may prescribe medication to lower IOP. Topical or oral medications, inserts (waferlike strips of medication that are put in the corner of the eye), or eye ointments can be used.

Protecting your eyesight is one of the most important things you can do to help maintain your quality of life. Some type of sight-threatening eye problem affects one in six adults age 45 and older. The risk for vision loss only increases with age. In fact a recent American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) report estimates that more than 43 million Americans will develop age-related eye diseases by 2020. Since the leading causes of blindness and low vision in the United States are primarily age-related diseases such as macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, protecting your eyesight as you age is an essential part of your health care.

Ophthalmologists are a specific kind of doctor who treats illness, diseases and conditions that affect the eye. While ophthalmologists can be thought of generically as 'eye doctors' and perform some of the same duties as optometrists, they differ in that ophthalmologists perform eye surgery and treat eye diseases. Ophthalmologists also examine eyes, screen for eye illnesses, and prescribe contact lenses and glasses.

Ophthalmic specialist training is an additional seven years on top of the time it takes to complete your medical degree and Foundation program. It is competence based and leads to a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT). Ophthalmologists continue to train throughout their careers to sharpen their skills and keep abreast of new developments in the field. Most have their hearts set on becoming consultants, whilst others might look to go down the academic route. 

Optometrists are physicians who diagnose and treat vision problems. To practice as an optometrist, they need to pass a national examination and, in some cases, a state examination in order to obtain licensing. Enrolled students must learn how to examine patients, diagnose vision disorders, treat vision problems and educate patients on common eye-related concerns. Before graduating, students must complete clinical rotations and internships. The prerequisites for an optometry doctoral program include a bachelor's degree and completion of the Optometry Admission Test given by the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry. Students should make sure that they complete courses in biology, calculus, laboratory science, physiology and chemistry.

The first few years of a Doctor of Optometry degree program cover basic human anatomy, ocular anatomy, basic vision science and neuroanatomy. The second half of the degree program is made up mainly of laboratory and clinical work, where students are expected to learn how to manage vision care in a clinical environment. The fourth and final year of a Doctor of Optometry program is made up of clinical rotations and internships at hospitals and specialty eye clinics.

Eye is composed of very sensitive and fragile tissues and every part of an eye serves its own function to maintain its normal vision. The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. The cornea, with the anterior chamber and lens, refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. But factors such as corneal ulceration, Epithelial keratitis & drug-induced epithelial keratitis, corneal regeneration, recurrent corneal erosion and miscellaneous corneal disorders can affect the cornea and ultimately lead to the external eye disease that could end up with permanent blindness. Hence investigation of corneal disease is carry out to mitigate the disease and methods like Contact lenses & vision correction is also use to cure the vision related problems and surgical procedure like corneal transplantation is used to transplant the cornea.

The retina is a slight layer of tissue within back mass of your eye. It contains a large number of light-delicate cells and other nerve cells that get and compose visual data. Your retina sends this data to your cerebrum through your optic nerve, empowering you to see. Retinal degenerative issue, for example, Age-related macular degeneration and nearsighted macular degeneration influencing youthful and old from numerous societies, races and ethnicities. The focal zone of the retina contains a high thickness of shading delicate photoreceptor cells called cones which are in charge of shading vision and thus any deformity and modification in the focal territory of the retina will prompt Color vision imperfections. Then again ailments like Diabetic retinopathy and Retinal tumors can likewise be in charge of the lasting vision misfortune in the event that it is not treated on time. Generally, retinal malady has had a low need in avoidance of visual deficiency programs in creating nations. There are a few purposes behind this. Firstly, it was suspected that retinal sickness was a remarkable reason for visual deficiency in the creating scene; besides, that the aftereffects of treating retinal ailment did not legitimize the exertion and cost included; and, thirdly, that the gear required was too expensive and temperamental for use in a creating nation environment. At last, there is an absence of talented faculty with sub-forte preparing in retinal sickness. John Hopkins School of Medicine, UCSF School of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine and Mayo Medical School are the main organization's partners with ophthalmology.

Neuro-ophthalmology is the incorporation of neurology and ophthalmology, often dealing with complex systemic diseases that have manifestations in the visual system. Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) includes all visual dysfunctions caused by damage to, or malfunctioning of, the retrochiasmatic visual pathways in the absence of damage to the anterior visual pathways or any major ocular disease. Myasthenia gravis is caused by a breakdown in the normal communication between nerves and muscles which leads to double vision, drooping eyelids and other muscles weakness which effecting the both i.e. neuromuscular activity and also vision. On the other hand nystagmus which is involuntary eye movement acquired in infancy or later in life that may result in reduced or limited vision. Factors like cerebral macular degeneration and chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia also the major effecting part of neuro-ophthalmology. Diagnostic tools in neuro-ophthalmology are used to investigate and to treat the various condition of neuro-ophthalmology as Neonatal ocular examination are primarily performed to monitor the presence and progression of Retinopathy of Prematurity. University of Pennsylvania is currently working on neuro-ophthalmology project.