Glaucoma has been nicknamed "the silent sight thief". 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.
Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness.
A disease of the optic nerve, it involves loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern of optic neuropathy. Although raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma, there is no set threshold for intraocular pressure that causes glaucoma. ........................
......................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.
Symptoms or signs of glaucoma are often absent in the earliest stages of the disease. Tragically, impaired vision is sometimes the first sign of glaucoma.There is no cure for glaucoma, but there are treatments for glaucoma, and they fall into two categories: medication and surgery. Both of these treatments for glaucoma manage the disease by lowering the intraocular pressure.
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<http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Nov132007/snt2007111235363.asp>
courtesy : Deccan Herald, Bangalore 13-11-07
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