Damage to the optic nerve & A silent disease with few warning signs
Lesson 1 · 5 min
Based on MedlinePlus en español — Glaucoma. Original educational summary, read by a medical doctor and confirmed reliable, pending formal approval. Not medical advice.
Learning objectives
- Explain damage to the optic nerve.
- Explain a silent disease with few warning signs.
Damage to the optic nerve
Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve, the cable that carries visual information from the eye to the brain. In most cases the damage is related to elevated pressure inside the eye, which builds up when the fluid that nourishes the eye does not drain properly. The most common form, open-angle glaucoma, develops slowly and painlessly. Vision loss begins at the edges of the visual field, so many people notice nothing until the damage is advanced.
A silent disease with few warning signs
Open-angle glaucoma usually causes no symptoms in its early stages: no pain, no redness, and no obvious change in vision. The first noticeable sign is often the loss of side, or peripheral, vision. A less common form, angle-closure glaucoma, can appear suddenly with severe eye pain, headache, blurred vision, halos around lights, and nausea; this is a medical emergency. Because lost vision cannot be recovered, regular eye examinations are the best protection.
Key concepts
- Damage to the optic nerve
- Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve, the cable that carries visual information from the eye to the brain.
- A silent disease with few warning signs
- Open-angle glaucoma usually causes no symptoms in its early stages: no pain, no redness, and no obvious change in vision.
- Who is at risk and how it is detected
- Risk increases with age, a family history of glaucoma, elevated eye pressure, and certain ancestries, including African and Hispanic heritage.
- Protecting the remaining vision
- Treatment cannot restore vision already lost, but it can usually stop or slow further damage.