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Body & Soul
Glaucoma has been called “the sneak thief of sight” by the organization Prevent Blindness America. According to a recent study, more than 2 million Americans are living with glaucoma, and an additional 2 million have the disease and do not know it.
Glaucoma, the leading cause of vision loss, is actually a group of diseases. According Dr. Robert Berry, ophthalmologist with Eye Care Arkansas, PA, all forms of glaucoma involve damage to the optic nerve fibers “that carry the sensation of light from the retina to the brain. The eye doesn’t really see; it is the sensory organ for the brain. The brain interprets the message sent via the optic nerve fibers as sight,” Berry said.
“Just like many sensory organs in the body, the eye has a number of reserve fiber optics. We’re born with about twice as many as needed for normal vision; we all lose a few every year, and they do not grow back. Those who have glaucoma lose fiber optics at an accelerated rate. So as they reach adulthood and beyond, they don’t have enough to have a full field of sight.”
The most common form of glaucoma is primary open angle glaucoma (also called chronic open-angle glaucoma), which leads to a loss of peripheral vision initially, and if left untreated may lead to tunnel vision and the eventual loss of all sight. The cause of primary open-angle glaucoma is unknown.
“The second most common is normal pressure glaucoma. A number of people will measure for normal pressure in the eye, but will have all the other signs of glaucoma, including visual field loss and optic nerve fiber loss,” Berry said.
(Please see the August 2008 issue of AY magazine to read the article in its entirety)
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