Glaucoma: A Silent Thief of Sight

What is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is an eye condition, also called “a silent thief of sight that affects the optic nerve (a bundle of about one million individual nerve fibers) of the eye and leads to blindness and vision loss if left untreated. The optic nerve transfers visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma is associated with increased intraocular pressure (IOP) within the eye, but it can also occur with normal or even lower-than-normal eye pressure.

What are the types of Glaucoma?

There are various types of glaucoma, but two main categories are Angle-Closure Glaucoma and Open-Angle Glaucoma. Let’s explore some common types of glaucoma:

Open-Angle Glaucoma : Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most popular form of glaucoma. It happens due to the increased IOP inside the eyes that involves the overproduction of fluid within the eye and reduced outflow of fluid from the eye.

The symptoms of this type of glaucoma appear after many years because it is very slow in progress.

Angle-Closure Glaucoma : This type of glaucoma is associated with the sudden and gradual closure of the drainage angle in the eye. The drainage angle is the area where the cornea and iris meet, and it is responsible for allowing the fluid (aqueous humor) in the eye to drain properly. When this angle becomes blocked, the fluid cannot flow out of the eye efficiently, leading to a rapid increase in intraocular pressure.

Normal-Tension Glaucoma : This type of glaucoma is also called low-tension glaucoma, where optic nerve damage and vision loss occur despite intraocular pressure (IOP) consistently measuring within the normal range. In typical glaucoma cases, elevated intraocular pressure is a primary risk factor for optic nerve damage, but in normal-tension glaucoma, the optic nerve is still affected even when the pressure is considered normal.

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