Brianna Laplante

During last night’s lecture, I quickly became interested in glaucoma.  Glaucoma is sometimes called the silent thief because it can slowly steal your sight before you even realize anything is wrong.  Glaucoma often occurs in animals, as well as humans.  Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of vision loss.  The most common form of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma, which develops slowly with no warning signs.  Other types of glaucoma include angle-closure glaucoma, low tension glaucoma, primary glaucoma and secondary glaucoma.  Many people are unaware of their vision problems until their vision is extensively compromised. 

Symptoms of glaucoma include blurred vision, halos around lights, reddening of the eyes, severe eye pain, nausea and vomitting.  Glaucoma is caused by too much intraocular pressure inside the eye.  Intraocular pressure is like air in a balloon–too much pressure inside the balloon affects its shape, and may even cause it to pop.  In the case of the eye, too much pressure can damage the optic nerve. 

Not to worry..there are many prevention methods for glaucoma.  People who have elevated eye pressure should use glaucoma eye drops on a daily basis, this reduces te risk of developing glaucoma by 22%. Cholesterol lowering medicines also reduce the risk of developing glaucoma, along with frequent monitoring/regular checkups.  Regularly monitoring is the best way to early detect and prevent glaucoma.  Remember to go for annual eye exams to keep your eyes healthy!!

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