Glaucoma

This is a disease where the intra-ocular (eye) pressure is high enough to destroy the optic nerve at the back of the eye, causing blindness. Typically, the destruction of the nerve is very slow and not painful at all. Its presence is diagnosed with various instruments/tests that pick up characteristic optic nerve head changes, visual field loss, nerve fiber loss and the presence of an eye pressure which compromises the blood supply and axoplasmic flow of the optic nerve. Classification of the many types of glaucoma is dependent on what is determined to be the cause. Treatment most commonly follows the course of reducing eye pressure with medications in the form of eye drops that need to be used continually over a lifetime.