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What is Glaucoma?

When it seems your world is closing in on you, it may be Glaucoma. Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the optic nerve slowly deteriorates. As this nerve deteriorates, diminished side or peripheral vision is usually the first noticeable symptom. Unfortunately, by the time the peripheral vision is affected, Glaucoma has already taken hold.

Age-related macular degeneration, and cataracts, one of the chief causes of vision loss in older people is glaucoma. A buildup of pressure between the cornea and the lens glaucoma is the inability of the eye to drain off this pressure through the anterior chamber. This gradually damages the optic nerve, and an impaired optic nerve can’t carry information from the retina to the brain.
In a healthy eye, pressure is regulated by the flow of a clear fluid called the aqueous that contains oxygen and other nutrients delivered by way of the bloodstream. The fluid circulates through the eye, it drains and it’s continually replenished. Other factors that can cause the optic nerve to deteriorate include inadequate blood supply to the nerve or problems with the structure and/or strength of the optic nerve fibers.

What is Glaucoma?

Symptoms of Glaucoma

Glaucoma can develop at any age, but the likelihood of it developing increases after age 35. As stated above, the first notable symptom of Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma is diminished peripheral vision. Most often, this loss takes place gradually in one eye. The other eye compensates for the damaged eye which is why the loss is not noticeable until the condition has progressed. Secondary Glaucoma has the same symptoms, the difference being that increased eye pressure most often results from an eye injury, tumor, infection, drugs or inflammation.

With Acute Closed Angle Glaucoma the symptoms are different. They include the appearance of halos around lights, blurred vision, nausea and severe pain. Congenital Glaucoma is apparent at birth. Abnormal fluid drainage causes excessive tearing, a cloudy cornea and eyes that are enlarged and that are sensitive to light.

Who is at risk?

There are several groups who are most at risk to glaucoma. People with a family history of glaucoma; those who are near- or far-sighted, or who have had eye trauma; and anyone over age 60, especially. There’s also an increased risk if you take oral or nasal steroids, or have diabetes.

Early detection/treatment

Testing for Glaucoma is done as part of a routine eye exam. The eye doctor uses a tonometer to test the pressure in the eyes. The optic nerve is also evaluated using an ophthalmoscope. A gonioscope, which is similar to a large magnifying glass, can check the channels through which the aqueous fluid flows. If Glaucoma is suspected, the eye doctor will initiate tests to evaluate peripheral vision.

If caught early, glaucoma can be treated with medications and they do work well to relieve the pressure and further damage to the optic nerve. Unfortunately they are a life long treatment since there is no cure yet found for glaucoma.

Beyond medications, there are two surgery available. One procedure is a laser surgery, in which the doctor improves the drainage pathways for the anterior chamber. In a different procedure, the surgeon creates a small hole in the sclera, or white part of the eye, to allow interior fluid to drain out and relieve pressure. This is done under local anesthesia. Both types of surgery are relatively simple.

However, neither type of surgery is a permanent solution for everyone. Regular monitoring is necessary, and sometimes follow- up surgeries are needed.

What can you do

Don’t put off your eye exams. Have a complete exam every 4 years after you turn 40 and every 2 years after you turn 60. Early detection is key, if you can see the symptoms then its too late.