Do the eyes of people with severe glaucoma have any noticeable characteristcs? Are they cloudy, grey, etc.? I’ve looked around a lot and I can’t find a description of the eyes only descriptions of the diseaese itself.
According to * Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary *, the eye has a dull gray gleam:
I don’t think that glaucoma can be easily(or at all) diagnosed by visual appearance; it’s my understanding that it involves an increase in the internal fluid pressure in the eye, which in turn causes constriction of the blood vessels supplying the retina and the retina starts to die off. It tends to destroy vision from the outside inwards, so is often in quite an advanced state by the time the patient notices and seeks medical attention.
It can be hereditary and it has occurred in my family; diagnosis involves measuring the pressure in the eyeball; this can be done with a machine that fires a precisely measured jet of air at the eyeball and measures the deformation caused, or by a device that presses a glass tube (with a rounded end) against the eyeball; the second method is the more accurate but the most unpleasant, although the air-jet method isn’t a barrel of laughs either.
On reading barbitu8’s reply; I think that the change in appearance may only occur after complete blindness has set in; not during the onset of the disease.
I developed glaucoma when I was 19 years old, and while I suffered from severe ‘attacks’ regularly until I was 28, there was no change in the appearance of my eye. Luckily, there was also no permanent visual loss associated with the attacks, despite them occuring on a daily basis for the last couple of years.
Yes, glaucoma (especially the acute angle-closure variety) does have an hereditary component, but not so in all cases…nobody in my family had ever suffered from it. However, I ensure that my kids have regular checks.
Another strange thing about acute glaucoma is that, when not having an attack, the eyes can register perfectly normal pressures. If you suspect that you may have this disorder, it is important to have a thorough exam, perhaps after the eyes have been subject to darkness (it is often the dilation of the pupil that precipitates an attack).
That’s why it took me nearly ten years before I got any treatment.
I also have glaucoma. As kimbukta mentioned, there are two forms; open angle and closed angle. The angle refers to the angle between the iris and the lens. If it is closed, the iris is close to the lens. If the iris swells for some reason, the fluid that flows between the lens and iris is stopped and pressure builds until the optic nerve is damaged. This can occur in a day or so and is an emergnecy. It can hurt like crazy.
Open angle is more common and generally has no symptoms. The pressure should be between 15 to 20. Damage can occur in some lucky people at 20, but usually at more like 30 you are having optic nerve damage. In my case, I saw rainbows at 32, went to the doctor, and use eye drops to keep my pressure down.
Well, they might be wearing really thick glasses. Hyperopia (far-sightedness) predisposes to the development of angle closure glaucoma. This is due to the distorted shape (imagine a sphere flattened along the optic axis) of the hyperopic eye. The flattening creates a shallower anterior chamber (the space between the iris and the cornea) allowing the drainage pathway to be closed off more easily.
Major Nitpick The angle refers to the angle formed by the iris and the cornea. See this linked page for diagrams. The area labeled “trabecular meshwork” (bottom illustration) is at the angle and is where fluid drains from the eye.