Glaucoma has emerged as the second commonest cause of blindness in the world with about 8.5 million people concentrated blind due to it. So worldwide from March 11 to 17 every year World Glaucoma Week is celebrated with the sole objective to create awareness about the disease and encouraging people to have regular eye checks. As the World Glaucoma Week is going on so here is everything you must know about this disease.
What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is an eye disease which causes damage to the optic nerve and is generally seen in older adults. It can lead to loss of vision if it is left untreated. Though, glaucoma has numerous forms but, open-angle and closed-angle are the two main types.
Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma which grows slowly and is considered a lifelong condition. Whereas closed-angle glaucoma grows very quickly and needs immediate medical attention. The patient with closed – angle glaucoma suffers pain and rapid vision loss.
The symptoms of open-angle glaucoma and closed angle- glaucoma are a little different. In open-angle glaucoma, peripheral vision is slowly lost and nearly always affects both eyes. The patient has underpass vision in advanced stages. In Closed-angle glaucoma a person face, severe eye pain accompanied by nausea and sometimes vomiting, blurred vision, red eyes and sudden vision problems especially when lighting is poor.
