What exactly is glaucoma?
If left untreated, most types of glaucoma progress towards gradually worsening visual damage and may lead to blindness.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that causes progressive damage of the optic nerve at the exact point where it leaves the eye to carry visual information to the brain.
If left untreated, most types of glaucoma progress (without warning or obvious symptoms to the patient) towards gradually worsening visual damage and may lead to blindness. Visual damage is mostly irreversible, and this has led to glaucoma being described as the “silent blinding disease” or the “sneak thief of sight”.
There are several types. Some may occur as a complication of other visual disorders (the so-called secondary glaucomas) but the vast majority is primary, therefore they occur without a known cause.
It was once believed that the cause of most or all was high pressure within the eye, known as intraocular pressure (IOP), it is now established, however, that even people without an abnormally high IOP may suffer from glaucoma. Intraocular pressure is therefore considered today as a risk factor for glaucoma, in conjunction with factors such as racial ancestry, family history, short-sightedness and age.
Glaucoma appears after the fourth decade of life in most cases but can also occur at birth “congenital” or during infancy and childhood “juvenile” and its frequency increases with age. There is no clearly established difference in the incidence between men and women.
The most common types of adult-onset glaucoma are primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) – a form most frequently encountered in patients of Caucasian and African ancestry – and angle-closure glaucoma (ACG), which is the more common in patients of Asian ancestry. ACG is often chronic, like POAG, but can sometimes be acute, in which case it usually presents as a very painful ocular condition leading to rapid vision loss.
Early detection is essential to limiting visual impairment and preventing the progression towards severe visual handicap or blindness. Your eye-care professional can detect glaucoma in its early stages and advise you on the best course of action.
“The world is a wonder to see every day, so don`t let glaucoma get in the way,” says I’langa Eyewear in I’langa Mall.
Visit I’langa Eyewear in I’langa Mall for more information.
