Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a group of conditions in which the optic nerve suffers damage due to increased pressure inside the eye leading to an inability to see. If a patient does not take medicine regularly, blindness, may occur. Glaucoma was named (blue water) as the patient sees sometimes blue halos around the sources of light.

Causes of Glaucoma

The eye constantly excretes liquid (aqueous fluid inside the eyeball) to maintain its spherical shape. This fluid is discharged through tiny channels available in the eye angle i.e. between iris and cornea, in a manner which keeps the level of eye pressure within the natural limits.

The unbalance between the secreted and discharged quantity (i.e. when secretion is more than discharge because of narrowing of discharging channels) leads to gathering of aqueous humor within the eye, consequently raises the pressure within the eyeball, causes pressure on the optic nerve and retina and makes gradual damage to optic nerve.

Glaucoma Types

Open-angle Glaucoma: Gradual weakness in vision without feeling any pain;

• Eye pains
• Nausea
• Severe weakness in vision, especially in low light
• Seeing colored haloes around the source of light
• Redness of the eye

Congenital Glaucoma

Congenital glaucoma occurs in new born children or after few months from their birth, the symptoms include:

• Abnormal increase in the eye size.
• Enlargement of the eye cornea.

They might be accompanied by loss of transparency of the eye, thus turning into white.

People Vulnerable to Be Affected with Glaucoma:

People with ocular hypertension. The elderly. People descending from an African race. People with family history of Glaucoma. People suffering diseases, such as diabetes, heart disorders, high blood pressure and thyroid. Eye conditions, such as tumors, retinal detachment, nearsightedness and eye injuries. People using cortisone: particularly eye drops for a very long period.

Complications

If left untreated, Glaucoma will cause loss of sight. It unusually passes through the following stages: Blind spots in the peripheral vision.

• Tunnel vision.
• Complete blindness.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of Glaucoma depends on the disease history and symptoms.

• Clinical examinations which include:
• Measuring intraocular pressure.
• Testing the optic nerve to reveal slight changes that may indicate the beginnings of glaucoma.
• Testing the visual field.
• Testing visual acuity.
• Measuring cornea thickness.

Treatment

Glaucoma diagnosis and early treatment are main factors for the prevention of blindness. The treatment focuses on reducing eye pressure to acceptable rates, thus avoiding damage of the optic nerve and tissue.

===Treatment using drugs either drops or tablets=== ​​This kind of treatment increases the level of aqueous water discharged or reduce its production. In most cases, drops are enough and useful if the patient fully follows physician's instructions. These drops include prostaglandins, beta blockers, alpha-adrenergic agonists and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors.

Laser Treatment

The laser is very effective with all types of Glaucoma. It is used to cure:

Open-angle Glaucoma

The laser enlarges the angle through which aqueous liquid is discharged to maintain eye pressure within the normal limits. In some Glaucoma cases, the physician might be forced to conduct a surgical intervention, such as: Filtering surgery: The physician creates an opening in the sclera — the white part of your eye — and removes a small piece of eye tissues to allow the discharging of eye liquid, thus reducing intraocular pressure. Transplantation of filtering tools: The physician might resort to put a tiny tube to facilitate the discharging of eye liquid, thus reducing intraocular pressure.

Prevention

​

Those over 40 years old should have their eyes examined every 3 to 5 years. People over 60 years old, their eyes should be examined annually.

• Treatment of ocular hypertension reduces glaucoma incidences.
• Eating healthy food and maintaining blood pressure within the natural limits.
• Avoiding severe eye injuries by wearing protection glasses.

Topics in Ophthalmology

• Macular degeneration (AMD)
• Amblyopia
• Anophthalmia and * Microphthalmia
• Astigmatism
• Blepharitis
• Cataract
• Color blindness
• Cornea and Corneal disease
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Dry eye
• Floaters
• Glaucoma
• Hyperopia
• Intracranial hypertension
• Low vision
• Macular edema
• Myopia
• Pink Eye or Conjunctivitis
• Presbyopia
• Refractive errors
• Retinal detachment
• Retinitis pigmentosa
• Retinoblastoma
• Retinopathy of prematurity
• Uveitis
• Vitreous detachment

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National Eye Institute Eye Topics A Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) Age-Related Eye Disease Study--Results Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Facts About AGI Seminar Series in Neuroregeneration Amblyopia Amblyopia Treatment Study (ATS I) Amblyopia, Facts About Anophthalmia and Microphthalmia Anophthalmia and Microphthalmia, Facts About Astigmatism Astigmatism, Facts About Audacious Goals Initiative (AGI) B Behçet’s Disease of the Eye, Facts About Bietti's Crystalline Dystrophy Bietti's Crystalline Dystrophy, Facts About Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Biochemistry Section Bioinformatics Group Biological Imaging Core Facility Blepharitis Blepharitis, Facts About Blepharospasm Blepharospasm, Facts About C Career Information for Postdoctoral and Clinical Fellows Cataract Cataract, Facts About Children's Materials Clinical and Translational Imaging Unit Clinical Immunology Clinical Studies Clinical Trials in Vision Research Color Blindness Color Blindness, Facts About Cornea and Corneal Disease Cornea and Corneal Disease, Facts About The D Diabetic Eye Disease Diabetic Retinopathy, Facts About Diagram of the Eye Diagram of the Eye Before and After Dilated Eye Exam Dry Eye Dry Eye, Fact about E Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial (EMGT) Experimental Immunology Section Eye Health Information Eye Movements and Visual Selection, Section on eyeGENE® F Facts About Lighthouse International Fax Numbers Financial Aid for Eye Care Finding an Eye Care Professional Fiscal Operations Plan Floaters Floaters, Facts About

G Glaucoma Glaucoma runs in families Glaucoma, Facts About Global Health Vision Lecture Series   H Healthy Eyes Healthy Eyes Facts Healthy Eyes Toolkit Hyperopia Hyperopia, Facts About I Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, Facts about Immunoregulation Section K Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) Study L Low Vision Macular Edema Macular Edema , Facts About Macular Hole Macular Hole, Facts About Macular Pucker Macular Pucker, Facts About Minutes of Past NAEC Meetings Molecular Immunology Section Molecular Mechanisms Section Multicenter Uveitis Steroid Treatment (MUST) Trial Myopia Myopia, Facts About N NEI Symposium: The Role of Immunology in Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Neurobiology Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory (NNRL)[1] O P Photos and Images Pink Eye Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis) Presbyopia Presbyopia, Facts About

R Rare Diseases Refractive Errors Refractive Errors, Facts About Regulation of Gene Expression Section Report on the NEI Audacious Goals Initiative: Regenerating the Optic Nerve Research at NEI Retinal Detachment Retinal Detachment, Facts About Retinal Disease Retinal Ganglion Cell Biology, Section on Retinitis Pigmentosa Retinitis Pigmentosa, Facts About Retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma, Facts About Retinopathy of Prematurity Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), Facts About S Sayer Vision Research Lecture and Award Series See Well for a Lifetime Toolkit—Module 1 See Well for a Lifetime Toolkit—Module 2 See Well for a Lifetime Toolkit—Module 3 Sensation, Cognition and Action Section Simulations, Eye Disease Symposium: Immunology of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) T Third-Party Websites and Applications (TPWA)[2] U Usher Syndrome Usher Syndrome,Facts About Uveal Coloboma Uveal Coloboma, Facts About Uveitis Uveitis, Facts About V Vision-Related Terms--Selected Online Sources Vitreous Detachment Vitreous Detachment, Facts About W World Glaucoma Week Y You Could Have Glaucoma and Not Know it YouTube Videos

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External articles

• Read Wikipedia's article on Glaucoma

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• Medline Plus Glaucoma

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