Glaucoma

You take steps to protect your heart health and skin health, but what about your eye health? The truth is that adults over the age of 40, especially those of African American and Hispanic descent, are at highest risk of glaucoma. By educating yourself now, you can prevent unwanted eye conditions in the future and preserve your quality of life.

The Definition of Glaucoma

The eye achieves clear vision through a complex web of functions, one of which involves the optic nerve. An eye’s optic nerve is responsible for transmitting images to the brain. Glaucoma arises when the optic nerve can’t do its job and vision becomes compromised. Glaucoma is so serious that it can cause blindness in only a few years if left untreated.

Causes of Glaucoma

Glaucoma hurts the optic nerve as a result of increased pressure in the eye. That pressure builds when eye fluid fails to circulate to the front of the eye. As pressure builds up instead of flowing through, the optic nerve becomes paralyzed. Doctors have yet to establish the exact cause of this pressure, but they do know that it is an inherited problem passed from parents to children. Chances are, if one eye has glaucoma, the other will as well. (more…)

Thanks to public awareness campaigns for health conditions like heart disease and diabetes, more people than ever before are aware of the signs and symptoms of problems that deserve immediate medical attention. Glaucoma is another such condition that should not be ignored, but you may not know as much about it. As an eye disease that stealthily and subtly steals your vision, glaucoma eventually leads to blindness without timely treatment. Here is everything you should know about living with glaucoma.

Why Does Glaucoma Develop?

Glaucoma can impact children, teens, and adults alike, though certain demographics like African Americans are more at risk than others. The condition is most commonly a result of dysfunctional drainage within the eye. The front part of each eye is filled with a clear fluid called intraocular fluid or aqueous humor. It is supposed to flow out through the pupil and be absorbed into the bloodstream through the eye’s drainage system. When this system works efficiently, eye pressure remains at a normal level and keeps the eye healthy. (more…)

Glaucoma is a debilitating group of eye diseases that can result in vision loss and blindness due to damage to the eye’s optic nerve. African Americans over the age of 40, men and women over the age of 60, and those with a family history of glaucoma are at especially high risk of gradually losing their vision to glaucoma if it is not detected and treated early. Even if you have strong eye health now, learning these three key facts about glaucoma could help you save your vision in the future.

It’s All About Eye Pressure

The front of the eye contains a space called the anterior chamber. A clear fluid is meant to flow continuously in and out of this chamber to nourish nearby tissue. However, in people with glaucoma, the fluid does not drain out as quickly as it needs to. Instead, the clear fluid builds up just like water trying to go down a clogged sink. This buildup creates pressure inside of the eye that is at risk of rising high enough to damage the optic nerve. It is for this reason that controlling pressure inside of the eye should always remain a top priority; once your optic nerve becomes damaged, your vision as a whole is severely threatened. (more…)

It has long been understood that the body is highly interconnected; a condition in one part of the body can trigger changes or reactions in a completely separate part of the body. Recent research suggests that this interconnection even connects mental health with vision health. According to a study in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers found that anxiety and depression are strongly linked with cases of glaucoma. (more…)

Alice’s story is an inspiration to anybody struggling with glaucoma. After losing her first eye to glaucoma, Alice underwent three separate surgeries in her surviving eye and used four medications…