Find
out If You Have One of These Common Conditions Above
What
is it?
Glaucoma,
the secondmajorcause of blindess in
the U.S., is the build up of the aqueous humor in the
eye which is unable to escape. This condition has affected 3 million
people, and the strange part is that most do not even realize they
have glaucoma. Also, African-Americans have been shown to be at
an even greater risk statistically of developing glaucoma.
What
causes it?
The aqueous
humor is a water-like liquid which travels through the front
of the eye. Glaucoma is the result when this aqueous humor is unable
to exit the eye due to a block somewhere. This block greatly damages
the extremely important optic nerve and results in permanent vision
loss. There are two types of glaucoma: open-angle and closed-angle.
Open angle is by far the more common of the two and is often associated
with the definition of glaucoma.
Symptoms
1.
none
at first (which is why it is so hard to detect)
2.
blurred
peripheral vision (at this point, vision cannot be restored)
Treatment
If
detected early, glaucoma can be treated 3 ways. The first method used
is through drugs in an effort to help control the glaucoma. The second
way is laser treatment, and its purpose is to help allow the aqueous
humor to drain. Finally, filtration surgery can be performed if none
of the above work. This surgery actually lets the aqueous
humor drain easily.
