What Are the Symptoms of Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a silent thief of vision
Glaucoma has no symptoms in its early stages. Having regular eye tests can help your ophthalmologist find this disease before you lose vision. Your ophthalmologist can tell you how often you should be examined.
Causes of Glaucoma
Your eye constantly makes aqueous humor. As new aqueous flows into your eye, the same amount should drain out. The fluid drains out through an area called the drainage angle. This process keeps the intraocular pressure (IOP) in the eye stable. But if the drainage angle is not working properly, fluid builds up. Pressure inside the eye rises, damaging the optic nerve.
The optic nerve is made of more than a million tiny nerve fibers. It is like an electric cable made up of many small wires. As these nerve fibers die, you will develop blind spots in your vision. You may not notice these blind spots until most of your optic nerve fibers have died. If all of the fibers die, you will become blind.
Read more about glaucoma on the South African Glaucoma Society website here.