Medical Questions » Eyes Questions » Question No. 336
| Question: | I have just been diagnosed as having glaucoma. My mother had it too. What causes this disease? |
| Answer: | Your eyeball contains a transparent liquid that has the consistency of half-set jelly. This liquid is produced by special cells that sit just behind the iris (the coloured part of the eye). There is a slow circulation of this fluid around the eyeball and out through the pupil to the area in front of the iris. Here the fluid is absorbed back into the bloodstream.
The fluid in the eyeball is under pressure to maintain the shape of the eye and prevent distottion of the light waves entering the eye. If the pressure of the fluid increases, the light-sensitive cells inside the eye will be damaged and vision will decrease—possibly to the point of blindness.
Glaucoma is the disease caused by an increase in the pressure of the fluid in the eye. The most common type of glaucoma has a slow onset over many months or years. The patient may not be aware that there is anything wrong unless a routine test by a doctor detects it.
Unfortunately, the first symptom is often deteriorating vision, and by then it may be impossible to reverse the existing damage, but any further damage can be prevented by the correct treatment.
There is an hereditary tendency to this type of glaucoma, and anyone who has parents with glaucoma should have their eyes checked every couple of years after the age of 35.
|
|
|
