Glaucoma
hideGlaucoma refers to a group of diseases that affect the optic nerve and involves a loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern. It is a type of optic neuropathy. Raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma (above 22 mmHg or 2.9 kPa). One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure, while another person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop damage. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness.
Glaucoma can be divided roughly into two main categories, "open angle" and "closed angle" glaucoma. Angle closure can appear suddenly and is often painful. Visual loss can progress quickly but the discomfort often leads patients to seek medical attention before permanent damage occurs. Open angle, chronic glaucoma tends to progress more slowly and the patient may not notice that they have lost vision until the disease has progressed significantly.
Glaucoma has been nicknamed the "sneak thief of sight" because the loss of vision normally occurs gradually over a long period of time and is often only recognized when the disease is quite advanced. Once lost, this damaged visual field can never be recovered. Worldwide, it is the second leading cause of blindness. Glaucoma affects one in two hundred people aged fifty and younger, and one in ten over the age of eighty. If the condition is detected early enough it is possible to arrest the development or slow the progression with medical and surgical means.
For more information about Glaucoma, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with glaucoma
1930s drug slows tumor growth
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 06, 2009 |
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Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers at the Johns ...
Researchers discover novel circulation in human eye, new glaucoma treatment target
Oct 05, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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Researchers at the University of Toronto, St. Michael's Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre have discovered a previously unidentified form of circulation within the human eye which may provide important new insights ...
Researchers identify gene variant linked to glaucoma
Sep 21, 2009 |
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An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the National Eye Institute, has discovered gene variants for glaucoma in a black population. The finding could ...
Certain type of implanted lenses may be a treatment option for some patients with nearsightedness
Jul 13, 2009 |
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Implantable lenses made of a collagen-like substance appear to provide stable correction of moderate to high nearsightedness (myopia) over four years of follow-up, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Op ...
Medicare expenditures decrease for glaucoma surgery as number of procedures increases
Jul 13, 2009 |
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The overall number of glaucoma surgical procedures appears to be increasing, but payments by Medicare for the procedures have been decreasing, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.
Clue to normal-tension glaucoma; herpes infection and corneal transplants
Jul 01, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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The July issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, includes two studies that may influence clinical treatment of serious eye conditions. One study reports on silent cerebral infarcts (SCI) ...
Combined dietary factors impact AMD risk; study finds glaucoma care cost-effective
May 01, 2009 |
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Highlights of May’s Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy), include a new analysis of dietary factors and risks for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and a landmark study on gla ...
New glaucoma research solves anthropological and medical puzzle
Apr 15, 2009 |
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Scientists studying a rare form of glaucoma have discovered why people in the disparate Roma communities are at greater risk of inheriting a condition leading to permanent blindness than other groups in the population.
Genetic sleuth solves glaucoma mystery
Mar 20, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Dr. Michael Walter is one good gumshoe. The University of Alberta medical geneticist has cracked the case of WDR36, a gene linked to glaucoma.
Experts examine causes, treatment and prevention of glaucoma
Mar 04, 2009 |
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Although scientists know progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells and their axons is the primary cause of glaucoma, researchers have yet to identify a way to stop or prevent the degeneration.
Glaucoma may be linked to higher rates of reading impairment in older adults
Jan 12, 2009 |
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Glaucoma appears to be associated with slower spoken reading and increased reading impairment in older adults, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Study sheds light on genetic differences that cause a childhood eye disease
Oct 31, 2008 |
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Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have unlocked part of the mystery underlying a childhood eye disease. New research shows how children with some types of glaucoma end up with missing or extra pieces of DNA.
Glaucoma surgery studied in medicare patients, new hope for people
Jul 02, 2008 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
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Ophthalmologists (Eye M.D.s) continue to develop treatments to help the more than three million Americans with glaucoma. The July issue of Ophthalmology includes a large, national study of outcomes of incisional surgeries, used t ...
Glaucoma procedure now available at Mayo Clinic aims to prevent further eye damage
Medicine & Health / Medications
Jun 25, 2008 |
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For the first time in Florida, patients with glaucoma have a new treatment option known as the Trabectome. The minimally invasive procedure, which is available at Mayo Clinic and takes about 20 minutes, is designed to decrease ...
