What is glaucoma?
There are two types of adult-onset glaucoma and both refer to an increased abnormal pressure within the eyeball. The rarer form is when an acute attack occurs. Symptoms include a painful, red eye and possible light sensitivity and nausea. The most common form of Glaucoma is the preventable chronic type. Sight is adversely affected if it is not picked up early, the long-term effect being progressively worsening tunnel vision. It is essential to have your eyes screened for glaucoma once you are over the age of 40 years as the relative risk increases from this point. Other factors increasing the risk of glaucoma are diabetes, high levels of short-sightedness, age and family history.
Glaucoma is the name given to a group of eye diseases in which the optic nerve at the back of the eye is slowly destroyed. In most people this damage is due to an increased pressure inside the eye – a result of blockage of the circulation of aqueous, or its drainage. In other patients the damage may be caused by poor blood supply to the vital optic nerve fibres, a weakness in the structure of the nerve, and/or a problem in the health of the nerve fibres themselves. Over 300,000 Australians have glaucoma. While it is more common as people age, it can occur at any age. As our population becomes older, the proportion of glaucoma patients is increasing. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF GLAUCOMA Chronic (primary open-angle) glaucoma is the commonest type. It has no symptoms until eye sight is lost at a later stage. Damage progresses very slowly and destroys vision gradually, starting with the side vision. One eye covers for the other, and the person remains unaware of any problem until a majority o
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that are characterized by intraocular pressure levels that damage the optic nerve and nerve fibers that form parts of the retina in the back of the eye. The optic nerve links the light-perceiving tissues of the eye with the parts of the brain that process visual information. Glaucoma is a common cause of preventable vision loss and can be treated by prescription drugs, laser therapies, and surgery. People with glaucoma often have no symptoms until they begin to experience loss of part of their peripheral vision. It is important to note that visual loss from glaucoma is permanent and irreversible in most cases, hence the need for early diagnosis and treatment.
Glaucoma is a group of diseases which affect the function of the optic nerve. A healthy optic nerve is necessary to have normal eyesight and side vision. There is correlation between high eye pressure and glaucoma but it is not always the case. In certain cases, the structure of drainage system is different than that found in normal eyes. In one type called exfoliative glaucoma, there is protein-like substance that originates from multiple sites and seems to flake off like dandruff and slowly clogs up the drainage of the eye, thus causing fluctuation of the pressure in the eye from high to low throughout the day. However, in most patients, we still do not know exactly what causes glaucoma.
