Glaucoma - a disease that causes damage to the optic nerve, which eventually compounded. Often glaucoma associated with elevated intraocular pressure. Predisposition to disease glaucoma in many cases is inherited; As a rule, the disease makes itself felt already in middle or old age, although there are exceptions.

Increased intraocular pressure can eventually lead to damage to the optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain. If the damage progresses, eventually glaucoma eye can cause complete loss of vision. If untreated, glaucoma can lead to blindness in just a few years.

If you are over 40 years old and one of your close relatives ever had, or glaucoma, you should undergo examination every one to two years. If you also have diabetes or any eye disease, you may need to be tested more often.

In most patients, glaucoma develops as a direct result of increased intraocular pressure. This can happen if disrupted circulation of fluid in the eyes. Normally, this fluid called aqueous humor flows out of the eye through drainage channel - trabecular meshwork. When the channel is blocked, fluid builds up in the eyes, increased intraocular pressure, glaucoma and develops. The exact reason why the broken cross-drainage channel is unknown, but doctors believe it may be due to hereditary factors.

Less common causes of glaucoma are mechanical or chemical damage to the eyes, severe eye infection, blockage of blood vessels in the eyes, inflammatory diseases of the eye, and sometimes surgery, carried out for the treatment of other diseases. Glaucoma usually affects both eyes at once, but its symptoms in one eye are often more or less pronounced than in the other.

Classification of glaucoma

The main types of glaucoma:

• Open-angle glaucoma - the most common type of glaucoma. The structure of the eye at the same time violating looks normal, despite the fact that the outflow of aqueous humor from the eye is broken.
• Angle-closure glaucoma is less common, and causes a sudden increase in intraocular pressure. The outflow of the aqueous humor is disturbed due to the decrease of the angle between the iris and the cornea (where there is a drainage channel).

Symptoms of glaucoma

For most people, glaucoma causes only mild symptoms, or until a certain time asymptomatic. The first sign of glaucoma is often a violation of the peripheral, or side vision, but it can occur only in the later stages of the disease. Early diagnosis of glaucoma - one of the reasons for which should be regularly examined by an ophthalmologist (the majority of people over 40 years is surveyed every year or every two years).

Sometimes patients with glaucoma is a significant increase in intraocular pressure (IOP), that leads to a sharp, severe pain in the eyes, headache Headache , Haze visible objects and other vision problems. As soon as possible, seek medical help if you or your child has any of these symptoms:

• The sharp deterioration of vision;
• Red eyes;
• Nausea and vomiting;
• Sore eyes;
• Tunnel vision.

Diagnosing glaucoma

To diagnose glaucoma, the doctor checks vision (in particular, held a regular test for visual acuity test), as well as with special equipment is studying the internal structures of the eye. Particular attention is paid to the process of diagnosis of the optic nerve - in patients with glaucoma it is damaged, and eventually damage will progress. For the measurement of intraocular pressure is the procedure called tonometry. Diagnosing glaucoma does not cause significant discomfort to the patient, and takes very little time.