Glaucoma is one of the most common causes of a blindness.
Glaucoma is a chronic progressing eye disease which leads to injury of an optic nerve and can lead to loss of sight. Though glaucoma is one of the leading reasons of a blindness, early detection and timely treatment can significantly slow down its progression and help to keep sight.

Glaucoma symptoms

Symptoms of glaucoma vary depending on a form and a stage of a disease.

In the beginning symptoms of a disease are practically absent, and at a late stage defects of fields of vision, eye pain, headaches. At acute glaucoma there are such symptoms as sudden turbidity of sight, a severe headache and eye pain, nausea.

Glaucoma: reasons and risk factors

The most important reasons or risk factors of glaucoma at first sight:

Too low perfusion pressure.
Arterial hypotonia.
High blood pressure (hypertension).
The increased level of lipids in blood (for example, a hypercholesterolemia) which lead to deposits in vessels (atherosclerosis).
Diabetes mellitus.
Autoimmune diseases.
Smoking as nicotine narrows blood vessels (including in an eye).
Blood circulation disturbance.
Strong inflammation of an eye.
Myopia (short-sightedness) or hypermetropia (far-sightedness).
Glaucoma cases in family.

Treatment of glaucoma

The earlier treatment will begin, the it is more than chances to prevent or slow down further injury of an eye. There are various methods of treatment which can be applied depending on your case.

One of the main approaches in treatment of glaucoma is a decrease in intraocular pressure. The ophthalmologist can recommend you use of medicines which will help to control pressure in an eye. It will slow down progressing of glaucoma and to reduce risk of further damages.

In certain cases, especially at an advanced stage of glaucoma, surgical intervention can be required.