Home Page

ABOUT US






OUR TEAM


ABOUT THE EYE


CONTACT US
Glaucoma
 
 
 
 
What is glaucoma
How can I tell if I have glaucoma?
How fast does glaucoma progress?
How is glaucoma treated?







Back to the Eye Diseases Page

What is glaucoma?

     Glaucoma is a serious eye disease that can rob a person completely blind. The eye is filled with a fluid, called aqueous humor, that contains nutrients and other elements to nourish the tissue inside the eye. This fluid is produced and drained in an equal fashion (like a good plumbing system). In glaucoma, through many different mechanisms, the drainage passage is either malfunctioning, blocked, or absent. Therefore the fluid is produced faster than it can be drained (like a clogged plumbing system). The fluid stays in the eye and builds up pressure. It is this pressure that will cause damage to the optic nerve over a prolonged period of time.

Back to top of page

How can I tell if I have glaucoma?

     You can't. For the most part, glaucoma is an insidious disease in that there are no symptoms. There is no pain or blurred vision. Glaucoma will slowly steal away the peripheral vision and works its way into the central vision. Patients will not have blurred vision from glaucoma until rather late the course of the disease. Some people with a specific type of glaucoma called Narrow Angle Glaucoma may have episodes where the pressure inside the eye rises to 50mmHg or higher (normal is 10-21). In these rare instances, the patient will have pain, redness, blurry vision, and halos around lights. However, most types of glaucoma are asymptomatic. Therefore, it is important to routinely have your eyes checked, especially if you have risk factors for developing glaucoma (e.g. family history, African-American, older age, nearsightedness).

Back to top of page

How fast does glaucoma progress?

     Glaucoma tends to progress very differently for different people and for different types of glaucoma. How often your doctor follows you depends on the condition of your eyes and how fast the glaucoma is progressing. What the doctor is following is how well the pressure is controlled, any changes in the optic nerve appearance that may indicate worsening disease, and the visual field test (which tests the peripheral vision and is the most sensitive test for changes from glaucoma).

Back to top of page

How is glaucoma treated?

     The goal of glaucoma treatment is to lower the eye pressure to relieve damage to the optic nerve. This is done in different ways. The simplest and least invasive is to use eyedrops to lower the pressure. Another option is to perform a laser procedure to lower the pressure. The last option is to undergo surgery.

Back to top of page