What Is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is the name given to a group of eye diseases where vision is lost due to damage to the optic nerve. It causes irreversible vision loss due to ... Skiptomaincontent Search Search Cart WhatIsGlaucoma? Breadcrumb Home Glaucomaisthenamegiventoagroupofeyediseaseswherevisionislostduetodamagetotheopticnerve.Itcausesirreversiblevisionlossduetodamagetotheopticnerve.Thelossofsightisusuallygradualandaconsiderableamountofperipheral(side)visionmaybelostbeforethereisanawarenessofanyproblem.Unfortunatelythereisnocureforglaucoma,andvisionlossisirreversible.   2in100 Australianswilldevelopglaucomaintheirlifetime. 50% ofpeoplewithglaucomadon'tknowtheyhaveit. 10x youaremorelikelytodevelopglaucomaifadirectrelativehasit. Whatcausesglaucoma? Glaucomaisusuallycausedbyanincreaseinintraocularpressure(IOP)whichcandamagetheopticnerve.Thelevelofelevatedeyepressurewhichcausesprogressivedamagetotheopticnervevariesbetweenpeople.Somepeoplecanhavehigheyepressurewithoutglaucoma(knownasocularhypertension)whileotherpeoplecanhavenormaleyepressurewithglaucoma(knownasnormaltension glaucoma). Theeyeisconstantlyproducingaclearliquidcalledaqueoushumorwhichitsecretesintoitself.Thisfluidnourishestheeyeandholdstheeyeinshape.Thefluidisthendrainedoutthoughanareacalledtheanteriorchamberangleordrainageangle.Ifthereisdamagetothedrainageangle,therateatwhichtheeyeproducestheaqueoushumorthenbecomesgreaterthantheratetheeyecandrainit–causinghighIOPintheeye. Thisincreasedpressurebeginstodamagetheopticnervewhichliesatthebackoftheeye.Theopticnerveismadeupofapproximatelyonemillionnervefibreswhichconnectthebackoftheeyetothebrain.Damagetothecellsoftheopticnerveresultsinirreversibledamagetoyoureyesight.   RecentlyDiagnosed? Ifyouoralovedonehasbeendiagnosedwithglaucomayoumightbefeelingoverwhelmed.We'reheretohelp. Learnmore Readmoreaboutthis Areyouatrisk? Whileanyonemaydevelopglaucoma,somepeopleareatahigherriskincludingthosewithafamilyhistoryofthediseaseandanyoneovertheageof50.Takeourquiztofindoutifyouareathigherriskofdevelopingglaucoma.  Takethequiz Readmoreaboutthis Whatisaglaucomasuspect? Clinicianswillrefertosomeoneasa‘glaucomasuspect’iftheythinkthepersonmightbeshowingearlysignsofglaucomaandrequireongoingmonitoring. Learnmore GlaucomaSymptoms Whiletherearedifferenttypesofglaucoma,PrimaryOpen-AngleGlaucoma(POAG)isthemostcommon,accountingfor90%ofglaucomacasesinAustralia. Nicknamedthe‘sneakthiefofsight’therearenoobvioussymptomsintheearlystagesofPOAG.Damageprogressesslowlyanddestroysvisiongradually,startingwithperipheralvision.Thisearlyvisionlossoftengoesunnoticeduntilasignificantamountofdamagetotheopticnervehasalreadyoccurred. OntheotherhandAcuteAngle-ClosureGlaucomacancausesevereeyepainassociatedwithnauseaandvomiting,headache,wateryeyes,suddenonsetofblurredvisionorseeinghalosaroundlight.Thisisamedicalemergencyandimmediatetreatmentisrequired. Whilevisionlosscan’tberestored,earlydiagnosisandtreatmentcandelayorhalttheprogressionofthedisease.Thatiswhyit’ssoimportanttodetecttheproblemasearlyaspossible. GettheFacts Commonriskfactors Althoughanyonemaydevelopglaucoma,somepeopleareatahigherrisk,especiallythosewithafamilyhistoryofthedisease. Learnmore TypesofGlaucoma Therearemanytypesofglaucomawhichcanbedividedintotwocategories:open-angleglaucomaandclosed-angleglaucoma. Learnmore Howisglaucomadetected? Glaucomacannotbeself-detected.Onlyanoptometristoranophthalmologistcandeterminewhetheryouhaveglaucomaornot. Learnmore Whattreatmentisavailable? Mostpeopleareabletomanagetheirconditionsuccessfullywiththeuseofeyedrops,lasertreatment,surgeryoracombinationofallthree.  Learnmore Readmoreaboutthis Eli'sStory 'AsIknow,nooneistougherandmoreresilientthanyou.Ican’tstopcryingandnowthisthingisn’tevenrhyming.Idon’tcare,thiswholethingisn’tfair...'-Kayla,Eli'smum Readmore FrequentlyAskedQuestions 10CommonQuestions EyeDrops EyePressure GlaucomaeNews SubscribetoourFREEmonthlye-newsletterforthelatestnews,researchandlifestylearticlesaboutglaucoma. Subscribenow RaiseAwareness Downloadandshareourdigitalcampaignstohelpraiseglaucomaawareness. Learnmore KeepCool AFRIOcoolingwallet willkeepyoureyedropscoolfor40+hourswithoutrefrigeration. Shopnow