Understand the Signs and Symptoms of Glaucoma

An eye disease that causes optic nerve damage, in glaucoma eye pressure plays an important role in damaging the delicate nerve fibers of the optic nerve. The reason for this pressure has not been fully understood as yet.

The optic nerve is responsible to carry images from the retina which is the specialised light sensing tissue to the brain. This allows us to see. Therefore you can well understand that if the optic nerve gets damaged then that could lead you to go blind. Glaucoma has been found to be the leading cause of blindness in the world, and this is especially true for older people. Understanding the symptoms for this disease is important as it could allow faster treatment resulting in prevention of vision loss.

The most common types of Glaucoma known are open-angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma. Other than this you also have pigmentation glaucoma, trauma related glaucoma,  exfoliation glaucoma and childhood glaucoma which is an unusual childhood disease and is a major cause of childhood blindness.

Open-Angle Glaucoma

These is one of the most common types of Glaucoma and it generally does not have any symptoms early in the course of the disease and visual field loss is not a symptom until quite late into the disease. The symptoms are:

• Gradual loss of peripheral vision, usually in both eyes
• Tunnel vision in the advanced stages

Acute Angle-Closure Glaucoma

Another common type of Glaucoma much like the open-angle one and it has completely different symptoms when compared with the open-angle one. The symptoms in this case could be extremely dramatic with the rapid onset of severe eye pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, and blurring of the vision. For these patients their eyes will appear red, and the pupil of the eye may be large and nonreactive to the light. The cornea on the other hand may appear to be cloudy to the naked eye.

•    Eye pain
•    Nausea and vomiting (accompanying the severe eye pain)
•    Sudden onset of visual disturbance, often in low light
•    Blurred vision
•    Halos around lights
•    Reddening of the eye

Eyes for chronic angle-closure glaucoma may appear normal in the mirror or to friends and family, while some patients can also have red eyes due to the use of eye-drops.

You are advised not to wait for any noticeable eye problems as primary open angle glaucoma gives only a few warning signs until there is any permanent damage. The only way you can detect this early enough is by going for regular eye checkups. This way you can detect glaucoma early so that it can be treated and prevented before further damage.

In trauma related glaucoma it is caused by a blow to the eye, chemical burn, or penetrating injuries.

Read more articles on Eye Disorders