What are the Symptoms of Open-Angle Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is an eye disease that gradually steals vision. There are typically no early warning signs or painful symptoms of open-angle glaucoma. It develops slowly and sometimes without noticeable sight loss for many years. Most people who have open-angle glaucoma feel fine and do not notice a change in their vision at first because the initial loss of vision is of side or peripheral vision, and the visual acuity or sharpness of vision is maintained until late in the disease.
By the time a patient is aware of vision loss, the disease is usually quite advanced. Without proper treatment, glaucoma can lead to blindness. The good news is that with regular eye exams, early detection, and treatment, you can preserve your vision.
Eye Exams
Because open-angle glaucoma has few warning signs or symptoms before damage has occurred, it is important to see a doctor for regular eye examinations. If glaucoma is detected during an eye exam, your eye doctor can prescribe a preventative treatment to help protect your vision.
Optic Nerve Damage
In open-angle glaucoma, the angle in your eye where the iris meets the cornea is as wide and open as it should be, but the eye’s drainage canals become clogged over time, causing an increase in internal eye pressure and subsequent damage to the optic nerve. It is the most common type of glaucoma, affecting about four million Americans, many of whom do not know they have the disease.
Increased Risk
You are at increased risk for glaucoma if your parents or siblings have the disease, if you are African American or Latino, and possibly if you are diabetic or have cardiovascular disease. The risk of glaucoma also increases with age.
Are you at risk for glaucoma? Find out.
Video Transcript
You may be at risk of developing glaucoma and not even know it. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve and can lead to vision loss. The two key risk factors for glaucoma are elevated eye pressure and changes to the optic nerve. Other risk factors may include: family history, ethnicity, narrow angles, thin corneas, and retinal nerve fiber loss. Early detection and regular eye exams are the best ways to minimize and prevent vision loss caused by glaucoma. Don’t wait until it is too late, set up an appointment with your eye care professional today.
