'If you experience sudden blindness, it is an emergency. This can cause the vision to fade and eventually be lost completely.ĭr Hawkes said: 'If you notice a loss of vision or a blind spot, you need to go and see your eye doctor. Glaucoma causes these fibres to die, which can interfere with the connection to the brain. The optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, is compromised of nerve fibres. 'This will cause redness to the eye, headaches and potentially vomiting, due to the pain.' When someone experiences such high levels of discomfort, a chemical can be released, such as adrenaline, that signals the brain to vomit.ĭr Hawkes explained: 'Severe eye pain is the most obvious sign of glaucoma and is usually unbearable. The resultant pain resulting from the pressure build-up in the eye can be very intense. While glaucoma almost always develops slowly over many years, it can very occasionally develop suddenly. Raised pressure is associated with glaucoma.' 'It could be an indication that intraocular pressure could be high. 'They can sometimes, in rare circumstances, become dilated, which could be associated with underlying conditions. In the conjunctiva, the white part of the eye, you have lots of blood vessels. If the pressure builds up suddenly, it can permanently damage the optic nerve.ĭr Hawkes explained: 'Blood vessels do not generally become dilated with glaucoma. This occurs because when the pressure within the eye has increased and the eye's drainage channel is blocked. When the blood vessels are dilated, the white part of the eye - the conjunctiva - becomes red due to the blood vessels becoming more prominent on the surface of the eye. This leads to the fluid being pushed into the cornea - the transparent part of the eye that covers the iris.ĭr Elizabeth Hawkes said: 'If the pressure in your eye rises too high, fluid will be pushed into the cornea, which will make it cloudy and waterlogged and leads to white looking eyes.'ĭilated blood vessels can be another sign of glaucoma. This creates tension on the optic nerve, which sends the image the eye sees to the brain for processing. The eye continuously recycles a clear fluid called aqueous humor.īut in those with glaucoma, the drainage channels for this liquid become blocked or narrowed. The eyes appearing whiter and cloudy could be a warning sign of glaucoma. 'Early diagnosis is associated with better visual prognosis, loss of vision is a late and usually avoidable sign if picked up early.' 'It is often only picked up during a routine eye test, which is why they are so important especially if you have a family member with glaucoma - should use the NHS screening service for over 40s, every year. Treatment aims to lower this pressure through prescription eye drops, oral medicines, laser retreatment, surgery or combination of these options.ĭr Elizabeth Hawkes, a consultant ophthalmic and oculoplastic surgeon at Cardogan Clinic in London, told MailOnline: 'It can take a few years to be diagnosed as an adult as it tends to develop slowly. The condition is diagnosed by opticians during routine eye exams, which measure the pressure inside the eye. It mostly affects those in their seventies and over, but people of any age can get it. The condition is usually caused by fluid slowly building up in the front part of the eye, which increases pressure inside it.Īs a result, the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, becomes damaged.Īround 700,000 people in the UK and more than 2million in the US are living with glaucoma, which is usually symptomless in its early stages. Caryn Johnson, also known professionally as Whoopie Goldberg, first revealed her diagnosis in 2014
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