Glaucoma

Glaucoma is often referred to as the silent thief of vision. It is a painless eye disease which is a leading cause of blindness in people over 40. This disease causes loss of peripheral vision due to abnormally increased fluid pressure in the eye.

Regular eye exams can often detect this problem before you experience any vision loss. Glaucoma can be controlled in a few ways: with eye drops, with laser surgery to open the drainage channels in the eye, or with surgery.

There are many different types of glaucoma, but there are two major types: open-angle and angle-closure. Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma. This type progresses very slowly as the eye’s drainage canals gradually become clogged. The pressure inside the eye rises because the right amount of fluid cannot drain out of the eye.

There are NO early warning symptoms of open-angle glaucoma and many people who have it feel fine and do not notice any pain or change in their vision. If open-angle glaucoma is not diagnosed and treated, it causes a gradual loss of small patches of vision that are not noticeable until they enlarge.

Fortunately, this form of glaucoma progresses slowly and usually responds well to medication.

Angle-closure glaucoma is relatively rare. It is very different from chronic open-angle glaucoma because the eye pressure usually goes up very quickly. The pressure rises because the drainage canals are blocked or covered over, very much like the blockage that would occur in a sink if a piece of paper or plastic completely covered the drain.

Treatment usually involves microsurgery or laser surgery to remove a small portion of the bunched-up outer edge of the iris. This unblocks part of the drainage canals, which allows the extra fluid to drain.

Generally speaking, glaucoma cannot be cured, but it can be controlled. Once diagnosed, it requires constant, lifelong care. Many people think that glaucoma has been cured when high eye pressures have been brought down to safe levels with medication or surgery. In fact, the glaucoma is only being controlled.

Regular check-ups are necessary even after medications or surgery have successfully controlled the eye pressure.