Glaucoma is a serious health issue that affect the eyes. It is the eye diseases that damage the optic nerve. The optic nerve that usually carries information from the eye to the brain is placed in the back of the eye. Any damage to it can result in loosing the vision.

As the first step, the person affected by the glaucoma will loose the side (peripheral) vision. But if it is not cured at the right time, it may get serious and could even result in the loosing the vision of both eyes leading to total blindness over time.

Glaucoma exists in three types:

Open-angle glaucoma is on of the most common form found in the United States. In open-angle glaucoma, the optic nerve is damaged bit by bit, slowly leading to the loss of eyesight. One eye may get affected more than the other and most probably, the eyesight may be lost even before you notice it.

Closed-angle glaucoma is not much common. About 10% of all glaucoma cases in the United States are closed-angle, in which, the coloured part of the eye (iris) and the lens block movement of fluid between the chambers of your eye causing pressure to build up and the iris to press on the drainage system of the eye. A related type is sudden (acute) closed-angle glaucoma, which is often an emergency. This requires medical care right away to prevent permanent damage of the eye.

Congenital glaucoma is a rare form that some infants have at birth. Finding and treating glaucoma early is important to prevent blindness.

The glaucoma risk rises after age 40 and even more quickly after age 70. The risk factors are more if you have diabetes or if a close family member has had glaucoma. Thorough check ups from time to time is a must in this case.

Tags: Health, eyes, diabetes, Blindness, vision, family, glaucoma, affect, Closed-angle glaucoma, United States, congenital glaucoma

Cataract is a painless, cloudy area in the lens of the eye that prevents the passage of light to the retina, the nerve layer at the back of the eye. The nerve cells in the retina by detecting light entry and sending nerve signals to the brain, maintains the vision. Cataracts block this light, causing vision problems.

Cataracts are caused due to aging and exposure to sunlight. Aging has a big role in causing changes in your eyes. But they do not always cause cataracts.

Eye injury, or any sort of eye disease caused after the usage of certain medicines Cataracts can also happen after an eye injury, as a result of eye disease, after you use can cause cataracts. In some cases, diabetes also paves way for cataract. Some children are born with cataracts. Cataracts affect the vision by making it cloudy, fuzzy, or foggy. It may cause trouble in driving at night because of glare from car headlights.

A person affected by cataract may need to change the eyeglasses frequently. It may even cause double vision in one eye. There are chances of near vision getting improved for a short time which is called second sight. Cataracts sometimes do not cause vision problems.

Cataracts could be diagnosed by the doctor by doing a physical exam and by asking questions about the symptoms and past health. Of course, additional medical check-ups may be required top confirm this. Cataract could be treated by surgery, but in older adults that could not be always removed. The vision loss from a cataract usually happens slowly and may never become severe.

The vision problems caused by cataracts could be managed by eyeglasses, contacts, or other vision aids. Also by keeping plenty of lighting in the home, a surgery can be avoided. Cataracts cannot be avoided maximum. But the growth rate could be slowed with efforts. By eating healthy foods keeping diabetes under control, we can reduce the effect of cataract.

Bookmark It

 Del.icio.us    digg  
 Facebook    Google Bookmarks    Stumble It    Technorati    Yahoo! My Web  
Hide Sites Tags: Health, injury, surgery, food, eyes, diabetes, retina, vision, cataract, foggy, visual aids, sunlight, driving, check-up