In fact, cataracts is the leading cause of blindness, with glaucoma a close runner up. While many are aware these conditions exist, few people understand how they affect eyesight or how they differ. To bring some clarity to the subject, here are the basics about cataracts and glaucoma, including differences, similarities and threats they pose to your vision if left untreated.
Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain that's typically caused by excessive pressure in the eyes. Imagine your eyeball as a tiny beach ball. If you add too much air to the beach ball, the pressure puts it at a higher risk of popping. While glaucoma will not cause your eyeball to pop, having too much pressure in the eye can damage the optic nerve that relays visual information from the eye to the brain, causing vision loss.
The optic nerve sits at the back of the eye and works by transferring visual information from the retina to the part of the brain that processes visual images.
When eye pressure gets too high, it begins to press on the optic nerve, making it harder for the optic nerve to do its job. The first noticeable symptom of glaucoma is darkening peripheral vision. Every day, your body refreshes that fluid. Older fluid leaves your eye through a meshwork drainage field and a small opening. New fluid replaces the old fluid, maintaining a steady pressure gradient inside the eyeball.
If something blocks either of the drainage mechanisms, pressure can build up inside your eye. There are two kinds of glaucoma: open-angle and closed-angle. The vast majority of glaucoma cases are open-angle. The pressure builds slowly and loss of vision is gradual. Around 10 percent of cases are closed-angle, where the blockage happens suddenly. Symptoms are swift and severe. Closed angle glaucoma is a dangerous health condition that requires immediate medical attention. Glaucoma may not present any symptoms at first, especially if it builds slowly.
The first symptom you may notice is some loss of your peripheral vision. This means you may not see things well around the outside of your field of vision.
Closed-angle glaucoma is more likely to present sudden symptoms, including intense eye pain. Your eye may feel firm to the touch, and it may appear red. You may also feel nauseated. With closed-angle glaucoma, your vision may be blurry, and you may see halos of light glowing around everything. Glaucoma can be diagnosed during a routine eye exam. To diagnose glaucoma, your doctor will likely give you eye drops that dilate open your pupil.
Your doctor will also test the pressure in your eye. This is a painless procedure. The first treatment option for glaucoma is often medicated eye drops that may help decrease the pressure in your eye. In some cases, surgery or microsurgical techniques may be necessary to create tiny openings that allow drainage.
Or, small tubes or stents may be inserted into your eye to make it possible for fluid to flow out. Inside your eye, a clear lens allows light to enter, enabling images to be projected onto your retina at the back of your eye.
Over time, the proteins inside your eye break down. They can stick together, forming whitish, yellow, or brown clumps that cloud, block, or distort your vision. These cloud-like clumps are called cataracts. Cataracts are the most common cause of vision loss in the world. According to the National Eye Institute , over half the people in the United States over 80 years old either currently have cataracts or have had them removed surgically in the past.
Cataracts take some time to develop. Cataracts can also form after your eye has been injured or as a result of eye surgery. But the most common cause of cataracts is the natural changes in your eyes as you get older. A cataract is a change in the lens of the eye; the result is cloudiness as light is prevented from entering the eye properly.
Glaucoma is a condition where a buildup of pressure in the eye causes damage to the optic nerve which is the vital link of the eye to the brain which processes visual information. Cataracts are unlikely to be the cause of blindness, not so with Glaucoma; it can cause irreversible blindness and must be treated. Glaucoma and cataracts are more prevalent in people who suffer from diabetes. Although glaucoma may be worse in one eye than the other, usually both eyes are affected.
The cause is fluid which collects in the chamber in the front of the eye; under normal circumstances, this fluid drains away as new fluid is produced to replace it.
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