Glaucoma

Normal vision (top) and vision with glaucoma (bottom)

Glaucoma is an optic nerve disease, which is a common cause of visual loss or even total blindness. It has been called "The Sneak Thief of Sight" because in its typical form, it has no symptoms; no pain, no swelling, no redness. People with glaucoma may not know that anything is wrong until after vision has been permanently lost.

Glaucoma is usually associated with elevated pressure in the eye. This pressure is caused by a rate of fluid production inside the eye which is too much for the natural drainage mechanism to handle. It's like blowing too much air into a balloon except that the eye can't enlarge like a balloon so the pressure goes up. When the pressure gets too high, nerve cells die off and vision suffers. Early diagnosis and treatment can save vision.

We can think about glaucoma by creating different categories:

• Open Angle - The most prevalent kind of glaucoma which does damage slowly and silently.

• Narrow Angle - Which can be silent or can present as an acute attack characterized by extreme eye pain, headache, and possibly vomiting.

Open Angle Glaucoma	Narrow Angle Glaucoma

• Secondary Glaucoma - Which develops after an eye injury, disease, or even after taking some medicines.

• Congenital Glaucoma - This rare problem can put infants in danger of blindness even while they are still in the nursery.

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