Glaucoma - the Quiet Vision Thief

Save Your Sight - Protect Your Vision

A coy thief threatens the vision of individuals, universally. Ranked as the leading cause of blindness, more than three million Americans have glaucoma. Over 100,000 cases in the United States have led to blindness from the understated disease. According to a report released by Mayo Clinic, an estimated million Americans are unaware of their affliction with glaucoma.Just like the human body's blood level rises, the eye has intraocular pressure (IOP). Essentially, glaucoma is verisimilar to ocular hypertension but with the adverse effects of optic nerve damage and vision loss. When the level of pressure escalates in the eye, the optic nerve is damaged. Consequently, peripheral vision is impaired. When untreated it may result in blindness.

1) Fact or fallacy - there are a wealth of cures for glaucoma?

Fallacy - while most cases of glaucoma may be identifiable prior to sight loss, the available treatments either prevent further vision loss -- only. (Eye drops are the regularly prescribed treatment. It works by slowing or speeding up the eye's drainage/production of aqueous humor. Either laser or non-laser surgeries may be performed after eye drops fail).

2) Fact or fallacy - glaucoma is a single disease.

Fallacy, glaucoma is a group of diseases. The predominant feature of the optical  illness is the pressure of the trauma induced on the optic nerve --  a cluster of nerve fibers linked to the posterior of the eye referred to as the optic disk.

Although, there are several variations of glaucoma, the major types are acute closed-angle glaucoma and chronic or primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). The other classifications include:

• Congenital glaucoma
• Pigmentary glaucoma
• Secondary glaucoma

3) Fact or fallacy chronic glaucoma (primary open-angle glaucoma or POAG) garners the alias "the silent thief of sight?"