Health Tip: Understanding Glaucoma

(HealthDay News) -- Glaucoma occurs when pressure builds up in the eye from excess fluid. Early detection and treatment can preserve eyesight, but there is no cure for the disease once it has progressed.

Here is important information about glaucoma, courtesy of the American Foundation for the Blind:

• Glaucoma can trigger loss of peripheral vision, which impairs the ability to move about safely and independently.
• Among blacks, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness.
• Glaucoma can make reading difficult, by limiting vision so that only one word can be read at a time.
• If undiagnosed or untreated, glaucoma can cause permanent, irreversible damage to the eye.
• Regular eye exams are important for detection and early treatment. Testing should begin as early as age 35.
• Glaucoma rarely triggers symptoms in its earliest and most treatable stages.

-- Diana Kohnle

Last Updated: Sept. 20, 2007

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