Q. What is GLAUCOMA?

A. Glaucoma is a group of diseases that can lead to damage to the eye's optic nerve and result in blindness.

Open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of glaucoma, affects about 3 million Americans - half of whom don't know they have it. It has no symptoms at first. But over the years it can steal your sight. With early treatment, you can often protect your eyes against serious vision loss and blindness.

Q. Who is at risk?

A. Although anyone can get glaucoma, some people are at higher risk than others. They include:

• African Americans over age 40.
• Everyone over age 60.
• People with a family history of glaucoma.

Q. What are the symptoms of glaucoma?

A. At first, open-angle glaucoma has no symptoms. Vision stays normal, and there is no pain. As glaucoma remains untreated, people may notice that although they see things clearly in front of them, they miss objects to the side and out of the corner of their eye.

Without treatment, people with glaucoma may find that they suddenly have no side vision. It may seem as though they are looking through a tunnel. Over time, the remaining forward vision may decrease until there is no vision left.

Q. How is glaucoma detected?

A. To detect glaucoma, your eye care professional will do the following tests:

Visual Acuity: This eye chart test measures how well you see at various distances.

Visual Field: This test measures your side (peripheral) vision. It helps your eye care professional find out if you have lost side vision as a sign of glaucoma.

Pupil Dilation: This examination provides your eye care professional with a better view of the optic nerve to check for signs of damage. To do this, your eye care professional places drops into the eyes to dilate (widen) the pupil. After the examination, your close-up vision may remain blurred for several hours.

Tonometry: This standard test determines the fluid pressure inside the eye.

Q. Can glaucoma be treated?

A. Yes. Although you will never be cured of glaucoma, treatment can often control it. This makes early diagnosis and treatment important to protect your sight.

Glaucoma treatments include:

Medicine: Medicines are the most common early treatment for glaucoma. They come in the form of eyedrops and pills. Some cause the eye to make less fluid. Others lower pressure by helping fluid drain from the eye.

Glaucoma drugs may be taken several times a day. Most people have no problems. However, some medicines may cause headaches or have side effects which affect other parts of the body. Drops may cause stinging, burning and redness in the eye. Ask your eye care professional to show you how to put the drops in your eye. In addition, tell your eye care professional about other medications you may be taking before you begin glaucoma treatment.

Many drugs are available to treat glaucoma. If you have problems with one medication, tell your eye care professional. Treatment using a different dosage or a new drug may be possible.

You will need to use the drops and/or pills as long as they continue to help to control your eye pressure. This is very important. Because glaucoma often has no symptoms, people may be tempted to stop or may forget to take their medicine.

Laser surgery (also called laser trabeculoplasty): Laser surgery helps fluid drain out of the eye. Although your eye care professional may suggest laser surgery at any time, it is often done after trying treatment with medicines. In many cases, you will need to keep taking glaucoma drugs even after laser surgery.

Laser surgery is performed in an eye care professional's office or eye clinic. Before the surgery, your eye care professional will apply drops to numb the eye.

As you sit facing the laser machine, your eye care professional will hold a special lens to your eye. A high-energy beam of light is aimed at the lens and reflected onto the meshwork inside your eye. You may see flashes of bright green or red light. The laser makes 50-100 evenly spaced burns. These burns stretch the drainage holes in the meshwork. This helps open the holes and lets fluid drain better through them.

Your eye care professional will check your eye pressure shortly afterward. He or she may also give you some drops to take home for any soreness or swelling inside the eye. You will need to make several followup visits to have your pressure monitored.

Once you have had laser surgery over the entire meshwork, further laser treatment may not help. Studies show that laser surgery is very good at getting the pressure down. But its effects sometimes wear off over time. Two years after laser surgery, the pressure increases again in more than half of all patients.

¹ Information courtesy of the National Eye Institute