Glaucoma

What is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a degenerative eye disease where the eye’s optic nerve becomes damaged due to the buildup of intraocular pressure caused by fluid in the front part of the eye. If this pressure is not relieved, it will result in progressive vision loss as nerve fibers die and blind spots in vision will eventually lead to blindness if glaucoma is left unchecked.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness for people in North America over 60 years old, and there are two primary types of glaucoma. Open-angle glaucoma is the most common one, and it is when the fluid in the eye does not drain properly in the way it should. Angle-closure glaucoma is when the iris of the eye is blocking the drainage angle, and intraocular pressure can increase very rapidly when this blockage occurs.

What Causes Glaucoma?

The basic functional working of glaucoma is the optic nerve being damaged because of consistent pressure being placed on it as fluid doesn’t properly drain from the eye and builds up within it. People who develop glaucoma usually have ocular hypertension long before their intraocular pressure buildup has them experiencing glaucoma, and the root causes of both conditions are the same.

There are also risk factors for glaucoma, and people will be more likely to develop it if they are:

Over 40 years of age

Have a family history of the disease

Are of Asian, Hispanic, or African heritage

Have had high eye pressure issues in the past

Vision problems with farsightedness or nearsightedness

Incidence of major eye injury

Long-term use of steroidal medications

Cornea of eye is thin in the center

Optic nerve thinning

History of diabetes, migraine headaches, high blood pressure, or poor blood circulation

Glaucoma Symptoms

Most people will experience the same symptoms when pressure on their optic nerve is damaging their vision. However, with open-angle glaucoma it is common for the person to have no symptoms at all until damage to the optic nerve is quite advanced due to long-term intraocular pressure. This is why it is important to catch the buildup of eye pressure early in order to avoid this progressing into glaucoma.

Among common glaucoma symptoms that will eventually be seen in patients with this eye disease are:

Decreased or blurred vision

Eye redness

Seeing halos or rainbows in vision

Headache

Nausea

Severe eye or forehead pain

Vomiting

Glaucoma Treatment

The most conventional approach to glaucoma treatment is to have the person start on medications like Alphagan that will reduce intraocular pressure in the eye. Laser surgery may also be necessary for glaucoma treatment to improve the drainage flow for aqueous fluid. The two types of surgery used here are trabeculoplasty or iridotomy. Trabeculoplasty is used for open-angle glaucoma and the laser is used to create a larger drainage angle. With iridotomy the laser is used to create a tiny hole in the iris.

A glaucoma drainage implant is also a possibility for treatment, and this is a device that is implanted in the eye and promotes better aqueous fluid drainage into a reservoir that is created underneath the conjunctiva. In rarer instances cataract surgery may also be used to lower eye pressure.