Glaucoma - Symptom, Causes, Treatment of Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a
life-threatening
disorder induced by
extend
pressure of fluid within the eyebaH. As the pressure
enlarge, the small blood vessels which supply the optic nerve are
constricted, leading to ruination of nerve fibresand gradual loss of vision.
Usually, pressure within the eye is kept
invariant
by equal production and drainage of the
clear watery fluid in the front of the eye in the middle of the cornea (
diaphanous
area in front of the coloured part) and the lens. This fluid is known as the aqueous humour and is in two chambers: the posterior chamber between the back of the iris (the coloured portion of the eye) and the lens, and the anterior chamber between the front of the iris and pupil and the back of the cornea.
Aqueous humour is
exposed
by tiny glands in the ciliary bodies
down
the outer edge of the iris. It
feeds
forwards
close to
the
internal
rim of the iris through the pupil from the posterior to the anterior chamber. There it drains into
minor
canals where the iris and cornea
connect
at the outer edge of the iris (known as the drainage angle). This slow, consecutive flow
always
refreshes the aqueous humour. Anything that
decelerates
drainage of the aqueous humour or interferes with its flow can
produce
to
extend
pressure within the eyeball - and therefore to glaucoma. There are two
primary
types of glaucoma.
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