Today I am writing about glaucoma, I always thought it to be a single disease concerning the eye; however, my research says it is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve, usually because of increased pressure inside the eye.

It’s one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide but with early detection and treatment, most people keep their vision.

The optic nerve is like a high‑speed cable carrying visual information from your eye to your brain. When pressure inside the eye rises (or when the nerve is unusually fragile), those nerve fibres slowly die. Once they’re gone, they cannot be repaired.

Your eyes are filled with fluid that constantly flows in and out of your eyes, bringing nutrients to your eyes.

If the fluid doesn’t leave your eye as easily as it enters, pressure can build up inside the eye.

The increase in eye pressure can damage your optic nerve. Your optic nerve links the back of your eye to your brain and allows you to see. Damage to your optic nerve results in damage to your vision.

Glaucoma can sometimes occur even when the fluid pressure in your eye is normal.

Most glaucoma develops silently over years, which is why it’s often called the “silent thief of sight.”

There are 2 main types of glaucoma.

Open-angle — where fluid pressure builds up in the front part of your eye, even when the fluid drainage pathways are open.

Closed-angle (or angle-closure) — where the eye’s fluid drainage pathways are narrowed or closed, so fluid pressure builds up quickly. This may cause pain in the eye and sudden loss of vision.

It can also be categorised as either, primary glaucoma, with an unknown cause or secondary glaucoma, caused by an eye condition, such as surgery, trauma, drugs or eye disease

Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma in Australia.

Usually, the deterioration in vision is very gradual and not noticeable. From the age of 40 regular eye examinations.

Once found, glaucoma can be treated to prevent or delay further vision loss.

You are at higher risk of developing glaucoma if you:

have a close relative with glaucoma

have high eye pressure

are aged over 50 years

are either short or long sighted

use (or have used) cortisone (steroid) medicines for long periods

have diabetes or either high or low blood pressure

get migraine headaches

have had an eye operation or eye injury

If you have chronic angle-closure glaucoma you sometimes get vision problems. This may be halo-like images around lights or you may have no symptoms.

If you have acute angle-closure glaucoma you may get:

sudden, severe eye pain

nausea and vomiting

headache

watery eyes

blurred vision

halos around bright lights

Since acute angle-closure glaucoma is an emergency, you should seek treatment straight away so you don’t lose vision. You need urgent treatment if:

one or both of your eyes quickly becomes painful and red

your vision gets blurred

you notice halos (rings) around lights

Treatment for chronic angle-closure glaucoma is designed to prevent or slow further damage, mainly by reducing the pressure in the eye. This may involve, eye drops, oral medicine or laser surgery or other surgery to open or create a new drainage channel. The surgery is usually an outpatient or day-surgery procedure.

Nerve cells damaged by glaucoma can’t be repaired.