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This week I’m going to start a series on glaucoma - I’ll cover these points in my next posts:
1. What is it? How does it manifest? Why is it caused? Symptoms?
2. What are the conventional treatment options? Do they work?
3. Are there any alternatives? Do they work? Is there research to back them up?
So - what is glaucoma!
Glaucoma is a truly insidious disease that can be difficult to detect until a significant amount of vision is lost. We are especially concerned about glaucoma because heavy computer users (ie 8 hours a day) have been found to have a higher risk for glaucoma, especially if they are nearsighted.
Glaucoma is often referred to as the “silent thief”, because most individuals with undiagnosed glaucoma do not suffer from any symptoms until they begin to notice a reduction in their peripheral vision.
Technically, glaucoma is due to damage to the optic nerve, sometimes as a result of increased pressure of the aqueous humor, the clear, watery fluid that circulates in the chamber of the eye between the cornea and the lens. But the term glaucoma is now defined as a collection of diseases that causes optic nerve damage. As a result, the diagnosis is no longer solely based on whether a person’s Intraocular Pressure (IOL) is elevated or not.