what is Glaucoma ?

Question

What is it is it bad?

Answer 1

What Is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is the name for a group of diseases that can destroy the optic nerve, the main nerve of the eye. The word glaucoma means "hard eyeball." Any one of the conditions classified as glaucoma can lead to irreversible blindness by damaging the optic nerve.

Glaucoma sneaks up on people. There are no symptoms other than loss of vision, which can occur so gradually that many people do not realize it is happening. The first vision loss is usually peripheral vision (what you can see off to the sides when you are looking straight ahead).

Even though glaucoma cannot be cured, it can be treated. If it is spotted in its early stages, before any sight is lost, blindness can almost always be prevented. But the longer glaucoma remains untreated, the more vision can be lost.

Glaucoma is considered a thief of eyesight. The only way to make sure that it doesn't sneak up is to have regular eye exams. This is especially true for people who:

Have a family history of the condition

Are black

Are over age 40

For reasons still unknown, some people have optic nerves that are more likely to be damaged-usually when fluid pressure in the eye increases. Some experts speculate that these people may have an inadequate blood supply to the optic nerve, or that the tissues supporting the nerve are weak. But no one really knows for sure.

In most cases, there is no pain associated with glaucoma and no early warning signs. That is why it is so important to have regular eye exams.

How Glaucoma Progresses
The first time many people realize that there might be something wrong with their eyes is when they begin to lose their vision.

The first to go is peripheral vision, which is what you see on the sides when you look straight ahead.

Left untreated, glaucoma will eventually lead to tunnel vision, where all a person can see is what is directly in front of the eye.

From there it can deteriorate to complete blindness.

There are several different types of glaucoma. The most common is called "open-angle" or "chronic simple" glaucoma. It occurs in 80 percent of all people with glaucoma.

Other types of glaucoma are:

Angle-closure glaucoma, of which there are two types: acute angle-closure and chronic angle-closure

Neovascular glaucoma

Pigment dispersion and exfoliation glaucoma

Normal-pressure, or low-pressure, glaucoma

Infantile glaucoma


Facts About Glaucoma

More than three million Americans have glaucoma, but half of them don't know it yet.

Glaucoma damages the optic nerve, which is the bundle of more than 1.2 million different nerve fibers that transmit to the brain what the eye sees.

Everyone should have a glaucoma check by the time they are 40. They should do so even earlier if they are black or if glaucoma runs in their family.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Hi,

Yes it is bad.
Glaucoma is a condition in which the pressure within the eye (intraocular pressure, IOP) increases. This happens when the fluid in the eyes called the aqueous humour, which normally flows in and out of the eye starts accumulating due to poor drainage. The resulting increase in pressure damages the optic nerve, the nerve that carries the images from the eye to the brain.

The types of glaucoma

The common type is open-angle glaucoma. The other is the angle-closure glaucoma, which may be acute (occurring suddenly) or chronic (slowly progressing).

The symptoms are

Most people who develop glaucoma notice no symptoms until vision is impaired. Usually the peripheral vision is affected first. In the late stages when the optic nerve is completely destroyed, blindness results.
In rare cases of acute angle-closure glaucoma symptoms develop suddenly and rapidly progress to blindness if not treated. The doctor must be immediately contacted if there is:


Blurring of vision

Severe pain and redness of the eye

Nausea and vomiting

Haloes around lights



Glaucoma can be controlled but not cured. Intra-ocular pressure can be reduced by medicines or by surgery. Medications may be in the form of drops or ointments to be put in the eye (topical) or oral pills. These medications act by reducing the production of the fluid in the eye, or by increasing its outflow. The doctor may prescribe either the topical or the oral medication, or a combination of both. Some of these medications may have side effects like blurring of vision, change in pulse rate, mood changes and drowsiness. Most of these effects are temporary.

Answer 4

Glaucoma is a group of diseases of the optic nerve involving loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern of optic neuropathy. Although raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma, there is no set threshold for intraocular pressure that causes glaucoma. One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure, while another person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop damage. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness.

Glaucoma has been nicknamed "the silent sight thief".[1] Worldwide, it is the second leading cause of blindness.[2] Glaucoma affects one in two hundred people aged fifty and younger and one in ten over the age of eighty.

Answer 5

What Is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is the name for a group of diseases that can destroy the optic nerve, the main nerve of the eye. The word glaucoma means "hard eyeball." Any one of the conditions classified as glaucoma can lead to irreversible blindness by damaging the optic nerve

Answer 6

Glaucoma is a disease in which your optic nerve (nerve that transmits visual information to the brain) is damaged because of changes in the pressure inside your eyes. It may be 2 kinds : Open Angle and Angle Closure (Acute).
Causes:
The passages in your eye that normally drain the fluid out of your eyes become clogged. This pent up fluid now raises the pressure in your eye and on the optic nerve causing damage and hence loss of vision. An injury, infection or tumour in or around your eye can also cause the pressure to rise. The following factors put you at risk :
-Having a family history of Glaucoma
-Near-sightedness
-Diabetes
-High blood pressure or other diseases of the blood vessels
-Long term steroid use
-Above the age of 40 years
Symptoms:
-Heaviness or headache
-Gradual darkening at outer edge of vision
-Appearance of coloured rings around lights
-Pain and redness in eyes

Answer 7

Glaucoma is something that prevents the eye from seeing properly.

I have Anal Glaucoma : I can't see my assss going to work today.

Answer 8

Glaucoma is sometimes called the silent thief because it can slowly steal your sight before you realize anything's wrong. It's a leading cause of vision loss.
Please see the web pages for more details on Glaucoma and Tonometry.

Answer 9

there are numerous drugs on the market which help glaucoma, ask your opthomologist Note: marjuana yes, can help in some cases--but is completely unnecessary medicinally, as most of the drugs on the market currently are MUCH more effect than it for glaucoma treatment

Answer 10

it is a silent cruel thief of eyesight.
Everyone should be checked for Glaucoma especially if you are fifty or above., or a diabetic every year.
It can be controlled......... but it will in time rob you of eyesight.