Prima Medical Center Saigon, Eye Diseases
What Is Glaucoma?
21 June, 2024
Prima Saigon Eye Hospital: Glaucoma is a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve. It usually happens when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid increases the pressure in your eye, damaging the optic nerve.
Prima Saigon: Thế nào là nhãn áp bình thường
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness for people over 60 years old. But blindness from glaucoma can often be prevented with early treatment.
Types of glaucoma
There are two major types of glaucoma.
Primary open-angle glaucoma
This is the most common type of glaucoma. It happens gradually, where the eye does not drain fluid as well as it should (like a clogged drain). As a result, eye pressure builds and starts to damage the optic nerve. This type of glaucoma is painless and causes no vision changes at first.
Prima Saigon: Normal people’s vision (left) and Glaucoma’s vision (right)
Some people can have optic nerves that are sensitive to normal eye pressure. This means their risk of getting glaucoma is higher than normal. Regular eye exams are important to find early signs of damage to their optic nerve.
Angle-closure glaucoma (also called “closed-angle glaucoma” or “narrow-angle glaucoma”)
This type happens when someone’s iris is very close to the drainage angle in their eye. The iris can end up blocking the drainage angle. You can think of it like a piece of paper sliding over a sink drain. When the drainage angle gets completely blocked, eye pressure rises very quickly. This is called an acute attack. It is a true eye emergency, and you should call your ophthalmologist right away or you might go blind.
Many people with angle-closure glaucoma develop it slowly.
This is called chronic angle-closure glaucoma. There are no symptoms at first, so they don’t know they have it until the damage is severe or they have an attack.
“Angle-closure glaucoma can cause blindness if not treated right away.”
What Are the Symptoms of Glaucoma?
Here are the signs of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack:
- Your vision is suddenly blurry
- You have severe eye pain
- You have a headache
- You feel sick to your stomach (nausea)
- You throw up (vomit)
- You see rainbow-colored rings or halos around lights
Open-angle glaucoma
With open-angle glaucoma, there are no warning signs or obvious symptoms in the early stages. As the disease progresses, blind spots develop in your peripheral (side) vision.
Most people with open-angle glaucoma do not notice any change in their vision until the damage is quite severe. This is why glaucoma is called the “silent thief of sight.” Having regular eye exams can help your ophthalmologist find this disease before you lose vision. Your ophthalmologist can tell you how often you should be examined.
Angle-closure glaucoma
People at risk for angle-closure glaucoma usually show no symptoms before an attack. Some early symptoms of an attack may include blurred vision, halos, mild headaches or eye pain. People with these symptoms should be checked by their ophthalmologist as soon as possible.
Who Is at Risk for Glaucoma?
Some people have a higher than normal risk of getting glaucoma. This includes people who:
- are over age 40
- have family members with glaucoma
- are of African, Hispanic, or Asian heritage
- have high eye pressure
- are farsighted or nearsighted
- have had an eye injury
- use long-term steroid medications
- have corneas that are thin in the center
- have thinning of the optic nerve
- have diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, poor blood circulation or other health problems affecting the whole body
Talk with an ophthalmologist about your risk for getting glaucoma. People with more than one of these risk factors have an even higher risk of glaucoma.
Prima Saigon Eye Hospita: The signs of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack
Glaucoma Diagnosis
The only sure way to diagnose glaucoma is with a complete eye exam. A glaucoma screening that only checks eye pressure is not enough to find glaucoma. During a glaucoma exam, your ophthalmologist will:
- measure your eye pressure
- inspect your eye’s drainage angle
- examine your optic nerve for damage
- test your peripheral (side) vision
- take a picture or computer measurement of your optic nerve
- measure the thickness of your cornea
Dr AN Trinh, Head of General Ophthalmology
If you need an eye assessment, please have a visit to Prima Saigon Eye Hospital
- Address: 27 Ky Dong St, District 3, HCMC
- Website: https://primahealth.vn/en/
- Business Hours: 07:30 – 17:00 from Monday – Saturday
- HOTLINE: 0919-209-039 or 1900 – 9115
Prima Saigon recommends that clients should reserve their intended consultation at least three days before their visit for convenience and less waiting time.
Prima Saigon Eye Hospital: Glaucoma is a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve. It usually happens when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid increases the pressure in your eye, damaging the optic nerve.
Prima Saigon: Thế nào là nhãn áp bình thường
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness for people over 60 years old. But blindness from glaucoma can often be prevented with early treatment.
Types of glaucoma
There are two major types of glaucoma.
Primary open-angle glaucoma
This is the most common type of glaucoma. It happens gradually, where the eye does not drain fluid as well as it should (like a clogged drain). As a result, eye pressure builds and starts to damage the optic nerve. This type of glaucoma is painless and causes no vision changes at first.
Prima Saigon: Normal people’s vision (left) and Glaucoma’s vision (right)
Some people can have optic nerves that are sensitive to normal eye pressure. This means their risk of getting glaucoma is higher than normal. Regular eye exams are important to find early signs of damage to their optic nerve.
Angle-closure glaucoma (also called “closed-angle glaucoma” or “narrow-angle glaucoma”)
This type happens when someone’s iris is very close to the drainage angle in their eye. The iris can end up blocking the drainage angle. You can think of it like a piece of paper sliding over a sink drain. When the drainage angle gets completely blocked, eye pressure rises very quickly. This is called an acute attack. It is a true eye emergency, and you should call your ophthalmologist right away or you might go blind.
Many people with angle-closure glaucoma develop it slowly.
This is called chronic angle-closure glaucoma. There are no symptoms at first, so they don’t know they have it until the damage is severe or they have an attack.
“Angle-closure glaucoma can cause blindness if not treated right away.”
What Are the Symptoms of Glaucoma?
Here are the signs of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack:
- Your vision is suddenly blurry
- You have severe eye pain
- You have a headache
- You feel sick to your stomach (nausea)
- You throw up (vomit)
- You see rainbow-colored rings or halos around lights
Open-angle glaucoma
With open-angle glaucoma, there are no warning signs or obvious symptoms in the early stages. As the disease progresses, blind spots develop in your peripheral (side) vision.
Most people with open-angle glaucoma do not notice any change in their vision until the damage is quite severe. This is why glaucoma is called the “silent thief of sight.” Having regular eye exams can help your ophthalmologist find this disease before you lose vision. Your ophthalmologist can tell you how often you should be examined.
Angle-closure glaucoma
People at risk for angle-closure glaucoma usually show no symptoms before an attack. Some early symptoms of an attack may include blurred vision, halos, mild headaches or eye pain. People with these symptoms should be checked by their ophthalmologist as soon as possible.
Who Is at Risk for Glaucoma?
Some people have a higher than normal risk of getting glaucoma. This includes people who:
- are over age 40
- have family members with glaucoma
- are of African, Hispanic, or Asian heritage
- have high eye pressure
- are farsighted or nearsighted
- have had an eye injury
- use long-term steroid medications
- have corneas that are thin in the center
- have thinning of the optic nerve
- have diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, poor blood circulation or other health problems affecting the whole body
Talk with an ophthalmologist about your risk for getting glaucoma. People with more than one of these risk factors have an even higher risk of glaucoma.
Prima Saigon Eye Hospita: The signs of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack
Glaucoma Diagnosis
The only sure way to diagnose glaucoma is with a complete eye exam. A glaucoma screening that only checks eye pressure is not enough to find glaucoma. During a glaucoma exam, your ophthalmologist will:
- measure your eye pressure
- inspect your eye’s drainage angle
- examine your optic nerve for damage
- test your peripheral (side) vision
- take a picture or computer measurement of your optic nerve
- measure the thickness of your cornea
Dr AN Trinh, Head of General Ophthalmology
If you need an eye assessment, please have a visit to Prima Saigon Eye Hospital
- Address: 27 Ky Dong St, District 3, HCMC
- Website: https://primahealth.vn/en/
- Business Hours: 07:30 – 17:00 from Monday – Saturday
- HOTLINE: 0919-209-039 or 1900 – 9115
Prima Saigon recommends that clients should reserve their intended consultation at least three days before their visit for convenience and less waiting time.
Signs of Possible Eye Problem in Children