What Is Glaucoma? First we need to understand a little about our eyes. A brochure produced by the Glaucoma Foundation of Australia explains: “The eye’s rigidity is obtained through pressure—the soft tissues of the eye are ‘pumped up,’ just like a car tyre or a balloon.” Inside the eye, a pump called the ciliary body moves a fluid known as aqueous humor from the blood vessels into the eye. “The aqueous circulates deep inside the eye, nourishing the living structures of the eye and returns to the blood stream through a strainerlike structure called the trabecular meshwork.” If this meshwork becomes blocked or constricted for any reason, the pressure inside the eye will increase and eventually begin to damage the delicate nerve fibers at the back of the eye. This condition is called open-angle glaucoma and accounts for about 90 percent of all cases. The pressure inside your eye, known as intraocular pressure (IOP), can vary from hour to hour and is affected by a variety of factors including your heartbeat, the amount of fluids you drink, and your body position. These natural variations cause no damage to your eye. High pressure in the eye is not by itself proof of glaucoma, since “normal” eye pressure varies from person to person. Still, high IOP is one of the indicators of glaucoma. A rare form of this disease is called acute, or angle-closure, glaucoma. Unlike open-angle glaucoma, this type involves a sudden increase of pressure in the eye. It causes severe pain in the eye, along with blurred vision and vomiting. If not treated within hours of the onset of symptoms, it will often cause blindness. Another category is called secondary glaucoma. As the name implies, this type is triggered by such other conditions in the eye as tumors, cataracts, or eye injuries. A small group of people are afflicted by the fourth type, known as congenital glaucoma. This type is present at birth or shortly thereafter and is indicated if the infant has enlarged eyeballs and an increased sensitivity to light.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:48:46 +0000
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