Glaucoma- The Silent Thief Of Sight

Can’t see the above images clearly?

These images clearly exemplifies difficulties a person with glaucoma finds in seeing things, what we have otherwise taken for granted .

Glaucoma is an eye disorder that result in optic nerve damage. It is often referred to as the silent thief of sight since the loss of vision occurs gradually without any prior symptoms. But at times it causes sudden and severe eye pain, blurred vision, and headache .After cataract it is the second leading cause of blindness and half of the population is not aware that they are suffering from this disease.

Of many risk factors, ocular hypertension is one of the most important factors of Glaucoma. Everyone over the age of 60 is at an increased risk of glaucoma but anyone and everyone can get it at any point of time. Glaucoma generally runs in family, so one should have a comprehensive dialated eye examination, eye pressure measurement and visual field tests done at least once in two years. 

Glaucoma cannot be cured and vision loss is permanent however with early treatment and proper medication, the vision loss can be slowed or halted. The treatment for glaucoma usually involves eye drops, laser or surgery.

The various risk factors for glaucoma are:

• High or elevated intra ocular pressure: As discussed earlier, if internal high pressure is more than normal then it may lead to Glaucoma.
• Family history
• Age
• Origin: Ethnic background is found to be one of the risk factors; people having Asian decent are  more susceptible to develop glaucoma as compared to Caucasian origin.
• Other medical conditions: Medical conditions such as diabetes, eye tumours, lens dislocation, hypothyroidism, trauma, stress may increase the risk.