Not many people know that they have glaucoma. There are no symptoms and so the disease silently progresses over the years to the point where you're now losing your vision. The disease can be treated successfully if you're treated early, and so it's important for you to have annual exams if you're over 60 years old. When your eyes are healthy, aqueous humor, a fluid-like substance, bathes your eyes and maintains your eye pressure. Some of this fluid naturally flows out of your eye. When you have glaucoma, the aqueous humor does not flow correctly out of your eye. This causes intraocular pressure to build, which damages optic nerve fibers in your eye. Avoid losing your vision by also having your optic nerves examined by your ophthalmologist and undergoing glaucoma treatment.

Function Of Optic Nerve

Your optic nerve is connected to the retina, which lines the inside of your eye. The optic nerve has numerous nerve fibers, and it sends signals from your retina to your brain. These messages are in the form of images that you see when your eyesight is healthy. When there is disruption of the aqueous flow, blindness will follow if you don't seek treatment for what could be diagnosed as open-angle primary glaucoma.

Open-Angle Primary Glaucoma

Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of this disease, which is identified when your eye is not efficiently draining fluid. This flaw creates intraocular pressure (IOP) as pressure rises. Once you visit your ophthalmologist, he or she will determine your individual target eye pressure measurement that will protect your optic nerve.

Your vision really doesn't change much at first when you're afflicted with open-angle glaucoma. As damage to the optic nerve increases though, blank spots start appearing in your vision field. Blindness occurs when all the optic nerve fibers die. The fact that your routine ocular pressure tests do not indicate you have glaucoma makes it crucially important for you to have the ophthalmologist examine your optic nerve for a proper diagnosis.

Normal-Tension Glaucoma

The insidiousness of normal-tension glaucoma is alarming. You will show correct ocular pressure, but your optic nerve damage and loss of vision still continue. In this case, you'll be given the same treatment that open-angle glaucoma patients receive.

Treatments For Glaucoma

Treatments vary depending on your diagnosis, but eye drops, pills and traditional or laser surgery are some of the treatments offered. The aim is to prevent vision loss, since glaucoma vision loss is irreversible. Many people emerge from traditional or laser surgery without losing the capacity to see. Other new and noninvasive treatments are currently being studied that could also become ideal treatments for glaucoma. Until those new treatments become standard care, be aware that you must take your medications as instructed to avoid losing your sight. You should also immediately report any side effects you are aware of when you take your medication.