There are many illnesses and conditions that can ail the human body and mind. Some of these are caused by foreign life forms entering the body somehow, and causing damage with their presence and activities. Others are caused by a harmful chemical being absorbed or ingested into the body. Many ailments are caused by injury or inflammation, and a great deal of them occur more often in older people. Glaucoma is a disease which becomes significantly more likely to occur with age, especially when a person is more than eighty years old. It affects the optic nerves and can therefore cause vision loss and eventual blindness. It is the second most common cause of blindness in the world, with cataracts being the most common. If you are looking for information on glaucoma in Smyrna, then you’ve come to the right place.
The retina is a tissue that is very important to the function of the eye. It is photosensitive, meaning that it reacts to light. When the optical portion of the eye allows light to enter and create an image of what is being seen, the retina reacts to this light and sends nerve impulses through the optic nerve to the brain. The optic nerve is a cluster of nerve cells that lead from the back of the eye and retina, to the vision center of the brain. When this cluster of nerves is damaged, it can lead to loss of sight or blindness, among other things. When this happens, it’s called Glaucoma. You can check online for information on the treatment of Glaucoma in Smyrna.
Because most glaucoma is a result of intraocular pressure, the disease is divided into ‘open-angle’ and ‘closed-angle’ varieties, depending on the angle between the iris and the cornea through which fluid must pass to drain away. This drainage is a natural process, but when there is too much fluid produced, or too little drained away because the drainage canals are clogged or blocked, intraocular pressure is a result. In open-angle glaucoma, there is a gradual increase in pressure, and in closed-angle glaucoma the increase is sudden. The former is generally less common than the latter, at least in the United States. If you have gradual vision loss and think you may have glaucoma in Smyrna TN, you may want to get checked out.