Glaucoma is a well-known eye disease that causes damage to the optic nerve, which transmits the message from the eye to the brain. When medically seen, glaucoma is found to be a complicated eye disease in which the optic nerve damage will sometimes result in an irreversible loss of sight. Today, this eye disease is the second major cause of vision loss worldwide, which makes this plenty enough to learn more about this disease, and to create as much awareness as we can possibly can. Learning about the disease will help educate any healthcare professional and family members so that they can go and take the necessary tests for diagnosis.

The status of glaucoma in the U.S.:

As mentioned earlier, glaucoma is the second major cause of irreversible loss of vision in the world today. According to the reports, nearly six million people have lost their vision in both their eyes due to this disease. In the U.S., from a variety of sources, over three million people have this eye disease. What makes the situation worse is that half of these affected individuals might not be aware that they are affected. The major reason why they are unaware that they have glaucoma is that usually they won’t experience any symptoms during the initial stages. Also, the subsequent side effect vision loss will often be left unnoticed by the affected people until it would worsen to complete loss.

Understanding the Types:

There are two major categories of glaucoma: open-angle glaucoma and narrow-angle glaucoma. In these, the term “angle” refers to the drainage angle in the eye that is known to regulate the outflow of aqueous fluid produced by it. So, if this fluid can access the drainage angle, it is called “open-angle glaucoma” and if it cannot reach the drainage angle as it is blocked, the condition is called as “narrow-angle glaucoma”. There are some variations in both of these types:

Variations of open-angle glaucoma:

• Primary open-angle glaucoma
• Normal-tension glaucoma
• Pigmentary glaucoma
• Pseudoexfoliation glaucoma
• Secondary glaucoma
• Congenital glaucoma

Variations of narrow-angle glaucoma:

• Acute angle-closure glaucoma
• Chronic angle-closure glaucoma
• Neovascular glaucoma

According to the information provided by the “American Academy of Ophthalmology”, the primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common type affecting almost 2.2 million people in the U.S. The number of cases is projected is increase to up to 3.3 million in the next three years. Several research studies also show that open-angle glaucoma is more likely to affect the African-American population more so than the non-Hispanic White population in the country. Thus, the prevalence of blindness due to glaucoma is found to be higher among the African-Americans than non-Hispanic whites. Some other studies show that open-angle glaucoma affects the Hispanic and Latino population at comparable rates to the African-American population.

How is Glaucoma caused?

Although health experts are unsure about the actual cause of glaucoma, the cases can be divided as primary glaucoma and secondary glaucoma for the better understanding. As such, when the cause of glaucoma is unknown, it is usually called primary glaucoma and when the cause of glaucoma is known, it will be referred to as secondary glaucoma. The most common causes of glaucoma are found to be one of the following:

• Tumor
• Diabetes
• Advanced cataracts
• Inflammation

Medically, glaucoma is found to be resulting due to a high fluid pressure inside the eyes. This would occur when the liquid in the front portion of the eye is not circulating properly. In normal conditions, the aqueous fluid will flow out of the eye via a channel. If there is a blockage in this channel, there will be a liquid buildup. This is what is causing the eye disease. In general, the reason for this blockage remains unknown, although it is thought to be inherited or due to a chemical injury or an infection in the eye.

Are there any symptoms for glaucoma?

Yes, the disease would show some signs and symptoms. But, these symptoms will be different for different types of glaucoma. In general, the open-angle and chronic angle closure glaucoma types would not show any symptoms during the initial stages. In rare cases, the patients with varying intraocular pressure would experience haziness and haloes around the light. On the other hand, the acute angle closure glaucoma will show a rapid onset of the following symptoms:

• Eye pain
• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Visual blurring

Although the eyes of patients may show some signs of the disease, an ophthalmologist will be the right person to identify the disease in the early stages. It is, therefore, recommended to take eye exams at recommended intervals. As such, the individuals of age 20 to 29 years must take an eye exam every 3 to 5 years, individuals of the ages 30 to 64 years must take an eye exam every 2 to 4 years, and individuals of age 65 years and above should take an eye exam every 1 or 2 years.