Disability Spotlight – Glaucoma
Posted October 26, 2010 by Mandy Smith in Disability Spotlight
While you’ve probably heard of glaucoma, you may not know exactly what it is. Glaucoma is not one disease but rather a group of eye diseases that slowly steals a person’s sight without warning. The vision loss occurs due to damage to the optic nerve, which is responsible for carrying images from the eye to the brain.
If you have wondered whether you or someone you know has glaucoma look for these symptoms or warning signs: trouble adjusting to a dark room; squinting or blinking due to unusually sensitivity to light or glare; change of color of iris; red-rimmed, encrusted or swollen eye lids; double vision; lines appear wavy; seeing spots or ghost-like images.
Even though glaucoma is not curable it can be controlled if detected early. Eye drops, pills, laser procedures, and/or surgical operations can prevent or slow down further damage.
You may be wondering if glaucoma is preventable. Research shows that causes for glaucoma seem to relate to eye pressure but there are multiple types which may be caused by injuries to the eyes, tumors and other eye diseases.
Are you wondering if you are at risk for glaucoma? Glaucoma mostly occurs in adults age 40 or older, but there are rare cases when infants are born with glaucoma. African Americans have a higher risk of the disease and higher chance of it beginning at a younger age with greater vision loss. You are at a greater risk of glaucoma if you are over 40 years old, have a family history of glaucoma, have poor vision, have diabetes, or if you take systemic corticosteroid medication.
If you would like to learn more about glaucoma check out these resources:
www.kellogg.umich.edu/patientcare/conditions/glaucoma.symptoms.html
