Given that January marks National Glaucoma Awareness Month, this post is intended to stress the importance of knowing about the indications of this vision threatening disease. Glaucoma is a class of progressive ocular diseases that cause damage to the optic nerve, which may lead to loss of central vision and eventual blindness. If uncontrolled, the damage often initially shows up as vision loss in the periphery of the field of vision and ultimately ends up causing total blindness. Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable loss of vision and over sixty million people around the world suffer from the disease.

A significant source of glaucoma is thought to be increased pressure in the eye known as intraocular pressure. As pressure around the eye increases, this causes damage to the optic nerve which delivers signals from the eye to the brain. In instances where this system is damaged vision is impaired. At the current time, damage to the optic nerve can't be fixed.

Glaucoma is especially dangerous because distinct from other forms of blindness, it is an asymptomatic condition until it may be too late.
It is for this reason that glaucoma has obtained the nickname the "sneak thief of sight." The question is how can one prevent a disease which lacks any tell tale symptoms?

Early diagnosis of glaucoma is essential for effective care. Although glaucoma risk is universal, specific populations have a higher risk than others. Risk factors for glaucoma may include adults over 45 years old, anyone having a family history of glaucoma, a predisposition to diabetes, or known eye problems such as high intraocular pressure.

To learn more about glaucoma find a qualified optometrist. There are a series of diagnostic eye tests relied on by doctors to check the beginnings of glaucoma. Particularly if you are over 45 or have one of the other risk factors named above, you should schedule a routine eye examination annually.

Unfortunately for the most part glaucoma cannot be prevented. However the damage to the optic nerve and deterioration of vision can be slowed by a reliable diagnosis and treatment. Contact ClearVision Eye Centers today, for a yearly screening for glaucoma.