Glaucoma is a disease of the eye that causes damage to optic nerve and is the second leading cause of blindness in the world. The optic nerve is the nerve in the back of the eye that brings visual signals from the eyeball to the brain. Pressure in the eye that becomes too high causes damage to the optic nerve. This optic nerve damage leads to decreased peripheral vision. These changes can be detected with a visual field test. Glaucoma can eventually lead to central vision loss and blindness.

The two main forms of glaucoma are open angle and narrow angle glaucoma. Narrow angle glaucoma can lead to an acute attack of glaucoma associated with high eye pressure, eye pain and blurred vision. Open angle glaucoma tends to be more chronic and slowly progressive in nature.

Risk factors for glaucoma include:

• Elevated eye pressure
• Age over 60
• Family history
• African American or Hispanics

Glaucoma is treated in several ways. Glaucoma drops can be used to lower eye pressure. If using more than one type of glaucoma drop, wait at least 5 minutes before instilling the next one. Glaucoma can also be treated with laser and surgery. By keep eye pressure controlled, we can slow the progression of glaucoma and preserve vision. Regular eye exams are important in screening for glaucoma. Eye pressure can increase and glaucoma damage can happen without obvious symptoms. Only by have a comprehensive eye exam can we see damage which occurs prior to visual symptoms.