Glaucoma happens when the pressure of the liquid in the eye gets too high and causes damage. Glaucoma tends to run in families and is one of the most common major eye disorders in people over the age of 60. In fact, the risk of getting glaucoma increases with age. It can also be triggered or aggravated by some medicines like antihistamines and antispasmodics.
Signs and Symptoms
There are two types of glaucoma:
Chronic or
open-angle glaucoma. This type takes place gradually. It usually causes no
pain and no symptoms early on. When signs and symptoms begin, they include:
Loss of side (peripheral) vision
Blurred vision
In the late stages, symptoms include:
Vision loss in larger areas (side and central vision), usually in both eyes
Blind spots
Seeing halos around lights
Poor night vision
Blindness, if not treated early enough
Acute or angle-closure glaucoma.
This type can occur suddenly and is a medical emergency! Signs and symptoms include:
Severe pain in and above the eye
Severe, throbbing headache
Fogginess of vision, halos around lights
Redness in the eye, swollen upper eyelid
Dilated pupil
Nausea, vomiting, weakness
Treatment and Care
Glaucoma may not be preventable, but the blindness that may result from it is.
Things you can do:
Ask to be tested for glaucoma
whenever you get a regular vision checkup. It's a simple, painless procedure. If pressure
inside the eyeball is high, an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) will probably give you eye
drops and perhaps oral medicines. The aim of both is to reduce the pressure inside the
eye.
Take the medicines your doctor prescribes.
(These are given for life for acute glaucoma.)
Do not take any medicine - even a
nonprescription one - without your doctor or pharmacist's okay. Most cold medications and
sleeping pills, for example, can cause the pupil in the eye to dilate. This can lead to
increased eye pressure.
If medicines do not control the pressure, other options exist:
Ultrasound, which uses sound waves
to reduce the pressure in the eye.
Laser beam surgery and other surgical
procedures that can widen the drainage channels within the eye. These relieve fluid
buildup.
There are also some things you can do on your own:
Avoid getting upset and fatigued.
This can increase pressure in the eye.
Don't smoke cigarettes. Smoking causes
blood vessels to constrict, which reduces blood supply to the eye.
(See "Places to Get Information & Help" under Visual Problems.)
HEALTH AT HOME - Your Complete Guide to Symptoms, Solutions, and Self-Care © 1999 by Don R. Powell. American Institute for Preventive Medicine.
Date updated 02/01/99