By Tehniyet Azam According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Glaucoma is a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve. It usually happens when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid increases the pressure in your eye, damaging the optic nerve. There are two ty...

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Glaucoma is a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve. It usually happens when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid increases the pressure in your eye, damaging the optic nerve. There are two types of Glaucoma:

1) Primary Open Glaucoma
In this type of Glaucoma, the fluid that needs to be drained doesn’t drain properly causing damage to the optic nerve, just like a clogged drain. This is the most common type of Glaucoma. This type is painless and causes no vision loss at first. People who have higher than normal pressure in their eyes need to see a doctor regularly to make sure that they don’t develop this type of Glaucoma. Regular eye exams are helpful to detect the early signs of this disease.
2) Angle Closure Glaucoma
This type happens when someone’s iris is very close to the drainage angle in their eye. The iris can end up blocking the drainage angle. It’s like a piece of paper sliding over a drain. When the drainage angle gets completely blocked, eye pressure rises very quickly. This is called an acute attack. It is a true eye emergency, and the ophthalmologist should be seen right away, it can cause blindness.

Here are the signs of an Acute Angle-Closure Glaucoma attack:
1. Vision is suddenly blurry
2. Severe eye pain
3. Headache
4. Feel sick to your stomach (nausea)
5. Throw up (vomit)
6. See rainbow-colored rings or halos around lights
Many people with Angle-Closure Glaucoma develop it slowly. This is called chronic Angle-Closure Glaucoma. There are no symptoms at first, so they don’t know they have it until the damage is severe or they have an attack. Angle-Closure Glaucoma can cause blindness if not treated right away.

Treatment: There are three methods for treatment of this disease: • Eye Drops • Medications • Surgery • 

These methods will not cure the disease but will make it manageable. There is no cure for Glaucoma and that’s why it’s important to catch it in its early stages to prevent permanent blindness.