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Glaucoma is a group of diseases that causes damage to the optic nerve due to an increase of pressure in the eye. This leads to progressive loss of peripheral vision.

There are several varieties of glaucoma found in adults and children.

Anyone can develop glaucoma, but there is a higher incidence in African Americans over age 40, all adults over aged 60, and those with a family history of glaucoma. However, with early detection and treatment, many people can protect their eyes against serious vision loss.

Glaucoma is typically detected by an eye doctor during a comprehensive eye exam that includes dilation of the eyes. Early detection and treatment can help delay the progression of the disease and vision loss. Glaucoma initially affects a person’s peripheral vision, eventually leaving them with only central vision. Left untreated or in severe cases when treatment does not work, a person’s central vision will likely diminish, and blindness may occur.

There is no cure for glaucoma. Treatment for glaucoma focuses on decreasing the intraocular pressure using medicines such as eye drops, surgery, or a combination of both. The goal of any treatment is to prevent loss of vision. It is important to follow treatment guidelines to preserve vision and delay progression of the disease.

Practical Implications

Because glaucoma can progress slowly with little or no initial symptoms, many people don’t even realize that they are losing their vision until the disease has significantly progressed. Diagnosis can be a traumatic event for many people as they may not have any idea that they have a vision problem at all. Glaucoma involves loss of visual fields that can progress to total blindness. When communicating with someone who has glaucoma it is important to note that their vision may fluctuate from day to day. As with other vision conditions involving field loss, experiencing glaucoma along with a hearing loss or deafness can cause problems with mobility, communication and other everyday tasks. As with retinitis pigmentosa, a person who is hard of hearing with glaucoma may lose access to the facial expressions or lip movements that they use to assist them in conversations. Someone who is deaf with glaucoma may eventually need to move to tactile sign language because they can no longer see the signs. Strategies such as signing at a distance or signing in a small space may be necessary when RP progresses. At some point, many people who are Deaf with glaucoma move to tactile sign language.