Sage-Tips

Who is at high risk for glaucoma?

People with a family history of glaucoma, African Americans over the age of 40 and Hispanics over the age of 60 have an increased risk of developing glaucoma. Other risk factors include thinner corneas, chronic eye inflammation and taking medications that increase the pressure in the eyes.

What are the 3 types of glaucoma?

There are several types of glaucoma. The two main types are open-angle and angle-closure….Other Types of Glaucoma

• Secondary Glaucoma.
• Pigmentary Glaucoma.
• Pseudoexfoliative Glaucoma.
• Traumatic Glaucoma.
• Neovascular Glaucoma.
• Irido Corneal Endothelial Syndrome (ICE)
• Uveitic Glaucoma.

How do you detect glaucoma?

There are different tests that can be carried out by an optometrist if they suspect you have glaucoma after a routine eye test.

1. Eye pressure test. An eye pressure test (tonometry) uses an instrument called a tonometer to measure the pressure inside your eye.
2. Gonioscopy.
3. Visual field test.
4. Optic nerve assessment.

How do they diagnose glaucoma?

Diagnosis

1. Measuring intraocular pressure (tonometry)
2. Testing for optic nerve damage with a dilated eye examination and imaging tests.
3. Checking for areas of vision loss (visual field test)
4. Measuring corneal thickness (pachymetry)
5. Inspecting the drainage angle (gonioscopy)

Does glaucoma always lead to blindness?

Glaucoma can cause blindness if it is left untreated. And unfortunately approximately 10\% of people with glaucoma who receive proper treatment still experience loss of vision. 2. There is no cure (yet) for glaucoma Glaucoma is not curable, and vision lost cannot be regained.

How long does it take to go blind from glaucoma?

Although glaucoma cannot be cured, it can be controlled. People with glaucoma need to have regular eye examinations and usually need to continue treatment for the rest of their lives. Untreated acute glaucoma results in permanent vision loss. Untreated chronic glaucoma can progress to blindness within several years.

Is Blindness rare from glaucoma?

Fortunately for most patients the answer is no. Blindness does occur from glaucoma but it is a relatively rare occurrence. There are around 120,000 cases of blindness in the United States and 2.3 million cases of glaucoma. This represents about 5\% of glaucoma patients.

How quickly does glaucoma progress?

Perhaps the subtle loss of nerve cells near the central vision, or other effects of glaucoma, do actually impair reading. We have determined that glaucoma patients can start reading at a normal pace, but slow significantly within 15-20 minutes.