Early Detection of a Change in Condition

Part One: Describe the signs, symptoms, and nursing interventions for older adults with: cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration detached retina, and corneal ulcers.

The cases of eye-related challenges infections have increased significantly, especially among people above 65 years. Although every eye disease has its unique characteristics, the patients can use basic signs and symptoms to ascertain the differences between cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, detached retina, and corneal ulcers (Dana, 2019). Some of the common symptoms that a patient can look to ascertain if they have any of the above diseases include but are not limited to severe headache, watery eyes, painful eyes, redness of the eyes, blurred eyesight, and irritation by light (Pirani et al., 2019). Some of the most common signs that the eye specialist can check to ascertain if a patient is suffering from a given eye infection include allergies, head change in body temperature, and irritations.

However, effective diagnosis and patient screening is the most accurate way that ophthalmologist and other specialists can identify and evaluate the causes of a given symptom. According to Yang et al. (2019), multiple researches have proved that some eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration detached retina may pose similar symptoms and medical signs. However, technology and research have played a significant role in initiating more effective techniques to distinguish between two diseases with similar symptoms and medical signs (to Yang et al., 2019).

Education and the creation of awareness are some of the most fundamental interventions that the eye specialist and other medical providers can use to eradicate various eye diseases. For instance, some diseases may occur due to inpatriate hygiene or exposure to harmful light rays. Moreover, the healthcare providers can prevent the occurrence of various eye infections by participating in the community-based healthcare program that seeks to devolve various forms of medical care such as diagnosis, treatment, and management of various forms of eye challenges.

References

Dana, R., Bradley, J. L., Guerin, A., Pivneva, I., Stillman, I. Ö., Evans, A. M., & Schaumberg, D. A. (2019). Estimated prevalence and incidence of dry eye disease based on coding analysis of a large, all-age United States health care system. American journal of ophthalmology, 202, 47-54.

Pirani, V., Pelliccioni, P., De Turris, S., Rosati, A., Franceschi, A., Cesari, C., & Mariotti, C. (2019). The Eye as a Window to Systemic Infectious Diseases: Old Enemies, New Imaging. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(9), 1392.

Yang, X., Pan, X., Zhao, X., Luo, J., Xu, M., Bai, D., … & Gao, D. (2019). Autophagy and age-related eye diseases. BioMed Research International, 2019.