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Glaucoma
Overview:
Glaucoma is not just one disease, but a group of conditions resulting in optic nerve damage, which diminishes sight. Abnormally high pressure inside your eye (intraocular pressure) usually, but not always, causes this damage.
Signs and Symptoms:
The most common types of glaucoma — primary open-angle glaucoma and acute angle-closure glaucoma — have completely different symptoms.
Primary open-angle glaucoma signs and symptoms include:
* Gradual loss of peripheral vision, usually in both eyes
* Tunnel vision in the advanced stages
Acute angle-closure glaucoma signs and symptoms include:
* Severe eye pain
* Nausea and vomiting (accompanying the severe eye pain)
* Sudden onset of visual disturbance, often in low light
* Blurred vision
* Halos around lights
* Reddening of the eye
Causes and Organs Affected:
For reasons that doctors don't completely understand, increased intraocular pressure is usually associated with the optic nerve damage that characterizes glaucoma. This pressure comes from a buildup of aqueous humor, a fluid naturally and continuously produced in the front of your eye.
Risk Factor:
Because chronic forms of glaucoma can destroy vision before any signs or symptoms are apparent, be aware of these factors: Elevated internal eye pressure (intraocular pressure), Age, Ethnic background, Family history of glaucoma, Medical conditions, Other eye conditions, Nearsightedness and Prolonged corticosteroid use.
Treatment:
Glaucoma treatments reduce intraocular pressure by improving aqueous outflow, reducing the production of aqueous, or both. Glaucoma can't be totally cured, and damage caused by the disease can't be reversed, but treatment and regular checkups can prevent visual loss in people with very early glaucoma. If visual loss has already occurred, treatment can slow or prevent further vision loss.
Other Information:
If you have elevated intraocular pressure or glaucoma, follow these lifestyle tips. Sip fluids frequently and Exercise safely.