Glaucoma
What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma damage refers to the atrophy of retinal nerve cells together with their accompanying nerve fibers. The results are blind spots in the field of vision which can lead to total blindness if left untreated. Several factors (e.g. increased intraocular pressure or a disruption in blood flow) play a role in the damage process.
How important is intraocular pressure?
Many factors are responsible for glaucoma. In addition to insufficient flow of blood to the optic nerve, increased intraocular pressure is the most important risk factor for glaucoma damage. The average intraocular eye pressure is between 10 and 21 mmHg. A gradual increase in pressure as typical in open-angle glaucoma does not cause any pain or difficulty in the initial years of the disease. Over time, however, it causes slowly progressing damage to the optic nerves and associated blind spots in the field of vision which go largely unnoticed.
retinal nerve