Understand Glaucoma Eye Disease: Introduction, Types, Causes and Symptoms

What is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the optic nerve. It develops when fluid builds up in the front part of the eyes. The fluid then increases the pressure in eyes thus damaging the optic nerve. It can even cause vision loss in the affected person.

Types of Glaucoma

There are mainly 2 types of glaucoma which are as follows:

1. Open-angle Glaucoma- It is the most common type of glaucoma which develops gradually, a person suffering from it doesn’t feel any pain.
2. Closed-angle Glaucoma - It is also known as angle-closure glaucoma and is a less common type of glaucoma disease and it may develop gradually or could occur suddenly. A patient may feel severe eye pain, blurred vision, redness in the eyes.

Causes of Glaucoma

Glaucoma is caused by the damage caused to the optic nerve of the eye, the high eye pressure is said to be the main causing factor.

There are several factors that have been linked with glaucoma such as:

1. Poor blood flow to the optic nerve
2. High blood pressure
3. Genetics - People with a family history of glaucoma are at higher risk of the disease as compared to others.
4. Ethnicity - Ethnicity also plays a role in the development of the disease as people from East Asia are more prone to glaucoma disease.
5. Previous Diseases - Diseases like Cataract, Diabetes, and Tumour have been linked with secondary glaucoma.
6. Certain Medications - Medicines such as corticosteroids are said to cause glaucoma.

Signs and Symptoms of Glaucoma

A person suffering from glaucoma shows many signs and symptoms of the disease which if identified earlier could lead to fast and very effective glaucoma treatment.

Some of the common signs and symptoms a glaucoma patient shows are:

1. Open-angle glaucoma - An open-angle glaucoma patient doesn't show any symptoms in the initial stages, but some symptoms can be seen in the final stages of the disease such as-

• Blind spots in the central or peripheral vision.
• Tunnel vision in the advanced stages.

2. Acute angle-closure glaucoma - Common symptoms under this type of glaucoma are -

• Redness of eyes
• Pain in the eyes
• Severe headaches
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Blurred vision
• Halos
• Dilated pupil

To prevent the risk of being affected by a very serious and high level of glaucoma is the early detection of the disease.

If you observe any of the symptoms mentioned above in your body then you should immediately contact an eye doctor for glaucoma near you. If you experience any unwanted feeling such as pain, soreness, dryness, etc. in the eyes you should contact an Ayurvedic eye specialist near you as soon as possible because any minor eye problem could also turn into some vision taking disease.