What is Glaucoma?
It is a group of chronic eye disease that affects the optic nerve and causes loss of vision. Aqueous humour(AH) is the fluid secreted in the eye that is needed to maintain eye health. As much as AH flows into the eye, the same quantity should be draining out as well. It occurs via a channel called trabecular meshwork in the angle of the eye. If the drainage doesn’t happen appropriately then the fluids accumulate inside the eye creates pressure and causing the intraocular pressure (IOP) to rise. Normal IOP is between 10-21mm Hg. It is never a single number and never constant. IOP also shows variation during the day and night. The optic nerve is the part of the retina, made of millions of nerves affected by raised IOP. As the nerve fibres get affected, one develops blind areas in their visual field and loses vision. One may not notice the loss of vision unless very sensitive until most of the optic nerves are affected. If the reserves of optic nerve is lost then the person becomes blind.
Note - Intraocular pressure in common terms is eye pressure which is needed to keep the eyeball in particular shape and health Akin to the blood pressure, it is the pressure inside the eyeball.
