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Glaucoma
Symptoms
Glaucoma
is often referred to as the "silent thief of sight,"
because most types typically cause no pain and
produce no symptoms. For this reason, glaucoma often
progresses undetected until the optic nerve already
has been irreversibly damaged, with varying degrees
of permanent vision loss.
But with acute, angle-closure glaucoma, symptoms
that occur suddenly can include blurry vision, halos
around lights, intense eye pain, nausea and
vomiting. If you have these symptoms, make sure you
immediately see an eye care practitioner or visit
the emergency room so steps can be taken to prevent
permanent vision loss.
Diagnosis, Screening and Tests for Glaucoma
During
routine eye exams, a tonometer is used to measure
your intraocular pressure or IOP. Your eye typically
is numbed with eye drops, and a small probe gently
rests against your eye's surface. Other tonometers
direct a puff of air onto your eye's surface.
An abnormally high IOP reading indicates a problem
with the amount of fluid (aqueous humor) in the eye.
Either the eye is producing too much fluid, or it's
not draining properly.
Normally, IOP should be below 21 mmHg (millimeters
of mercury) — a unit of measurement based on how
much force is exerted within a certain defined area.
If your IOP is higher than 30 mmHg, your risk of
glaucoma damage is 40 times greater than someone
with an IOP of 15 mmHG or lower.* This is why
glaucoma treatments such as eye drops are aimed at
keeping IOP low.
*Ophthalmology reference book, 2004 |
