What is Glaucoma Disease?
Glaucoma disease is a disease which attacks the vision nerve and can develop to permanent blindness if it is not cured in time.
Perhaps, some people have heard the words "Glaucoma disease" but only few people understand what these words mean.
In glaucoma, the nerve fibers die off at an increased rate.
This condition can lead to loss of vision.
The main cause for this disease is excess pressure in the eye.
The pressure in the eye causes damage to the optic nerve which carries vision to the brain.
This damage affects our side or peripheral vision and then slowly spreads to involve larger and larger areas of our vision.
However, it usually spares our central vision until late in the course of the disease.
Any nerve damage that happens is irreversible, so preventing damage is the key.
Glaucoma disease can be diagnosed.
A full eye examination consists of a number of standard tests to measure the overall health and functioning of the eyes.
If your doctor suspects glaucoma, he or she orders further tests.
If these confirm the diagnosis, you will receive instructions about how to reduce the pressure in the eye.
There are some types of glaucoma.
For this article, we will only focus on open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma.
Open-angle glaucoma, the most popular form of glaucoma, affects about three million Americans.
Half of them do not even realize they have it.
There are no symptoms at first -- vision stays normal, and there is no pain.
If the glaucoma remains untreated, people may begin to notice that although they see things in front of them clearly, they miss objects to the side and out of the corners of their eyes.
Open-angle glaucoma gets its name because the angle that allows fluid to drain out of the anterior chamber is open.
However, for unknown reasons, the fluid passes too slowly through the meshwork drain.
As the fluid builds up, the pressure inside the eye increases.
Unless the pressure at the front of the eye is controlled, it can damage the optic nerve and cause vision loss.
In closed-angle glaucoma, the fluid at the front of the eye cannot reach the angle and leave the eye because the angle is blocked by part of the iris (the part that makes eyes blue, brown or green).
You can imagine this occurring much like a sheet of paper floating near a drain.
If the paper suddenly drops over the opening, the flow is quickly blocked.
Glaucoma disease is a very scary disease since there are no symptoms.
However, some experts say diet rich in fish oil may help avoid glaucoma.
This idea is based on surveys of Eskimos that indicate they have very low rates of open-angle glaucoma.
Another smart way to prevent Glaucoma is healthy lifestyle.
Eating fresh vegetables and having regular exercise can reduce the risk of suffering from Glaucoma.
Perhaps, some people have heard the words "Glaucoma disease" but only few people understand what these words mean.
In glaucoma, the nerve fibers die off at an increased rate.
This condition can lead to loss of vision.
The main cause for this disease is excess pressure in the eye.
The pressure in the eye causes damage to the optic nerve which carries vision to the brain.
This damage affects our side or peripheral vision and then slowly spreads to involve larger and larger areas of our vision.
However, it usually spares our central vision until late in the course of the disease.
Any nerve damage that happens is irreversible, so preventing damage is the key.
Glaucoma disease can be diagnosed.
A full eye examination consists of a number of standard tests to measure the overall health and functioning of the eyes.
If your doctor suspects glaucoma, he or she orders further tests.
If these confirm the diagnosis, you will receive instructions about how to reduce the pressure in the eye.
There are some types of glaucoma.
For this article, we will only focus on open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma.
Open-angle glaucoma, the most popular form of glaucoma, affects about three million Americans.
Half of them do not even realize they have it.
There are no symptoms at first -- vision stays normal, and there is no pain.
If the glaucoma remains untreated, people may begin to notice that although they see things in front of them clearly, they miss objects to the side and out of the corners of their eyes.
Open-angle glaucoma gets its name because the angle that allows fluid to drain out of the anterior chamber is open.
However, for unknown reasons, the fluid passes too slowly through the meshwork drain.
As the fluid builds up, the pressure inside the eye increases.
Unless the pressure at the front of the eye is controlled, it can damage the optic nerve and cause vision loss.
In closed-angle glaucoma, the fluid at the front of the eye cannot reach the angle and leave the eye because the angle is blocked by part of the iris (the part that makes eyes blue, brown or green).
You can imagine this occurring much like a sheet of paper floating near a drain.
If the paper suddenly drops over the opening, the flow is quickly blocked.
Glaucoma disease is a very scary disease since there are no symptoms.
However, some experts say diet rich in fish oil may help avoid glaucoma.
This idea is based on surveys of Eskimos that indicate they have very low rates of open-angle glaucoma.
Another smart way to prevent Glaucoma is healthy lifestyle.
Eating fresh vegetables and having regular exercise can reduce the risk of suffering from Glaucoma.
