GLAUCOMA

Glaucoma patients suffer from the  buildup of internal eye pressure (known as intraocular pressure), which can damage the eye's optic nerve.  Damage to the optic nerve can be extremely serious, as the optic nerve transmits visual information to the brain.  For a demonstration of how glaucoma affects the eye, watch the following video.

The tragic result of glaucoma is decreased ability to see at the edges of your vision, damaging your peripheral vision.  One of the earliest life consequence of glaucoma is the loss of the ability to drive a car, which can greatly impact your ability to live life the way you want.  As glaucoma gets worse, progressive damage may lead to  blindness.  Once you lose vision to glaucoma it is permanent.  Nothing can get your vision back, which is why prevention is so critical.

In fact, glaucoma creates at least some vision loss in more than half of the approximately 2.5 million Americans estimated to have glaucoma and is the second leading cause of blindness.

Glaucoma Symptoms

Doctors call glaucoma "silent thief of sight," because most types og glaucoma typically cause no pain and produce no symptoms until noticeable and permanent vision loss occurs.  In the early stages, the only way to detect glaucoma is to see your eye doctor for an eye health exam in which the doctor routinely checks for glaucoma.

However, with a type of glaucoma known as acute angle-closure glaucoma  sudden symptoms can cause include blurry vision, halos around lights, intense eye pain, nausea and vomiting. If you have these symptoms, make sure you see an eye doctor or  visit the emergency room immediately so steps can be taken to prevent permanent vision loss.

Diagnosis, Screening and Tests for Glaucoma

During a routine eye exam, Dr. Randahawa and her associate doctors use a tonometer  to measure your intraocular pressure. Your eye typically is numbed with eye drops, and a small probe gently rests against your eye's surface.

High eye pressure is an indicator of a problem with the amount of fluid  in the eye. Either the eye is producing too much fluid, or it's not draining properly.

Normally, the pressure in the eye should be below 21 mmHg (millimeters of mercury).

If your pressure is higher than 30 mmHg, your risk of glaucoma damage is 40 times greater than someone with an IOP of 15 mmHG or lower.

Glaucoma can be successfully treated and managed.  The first step is to visit a doctor do ensure that you are not a victim of the "silent thief of sight."