Glaucoma
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What will happen to me?

Once you have glaucoma, you will always have it. Treatments can't cure glaucoma, but they can keep it under control. Without treatment, your glaucoma will slowly get worse. Your eyesight may get slowly worse too. Over many years, untreated glaucoma can make you go blind.

Treatment reduces the pressure inside your eye, and helps stop any further damage to your optic nerve. Treatments for glaucoma can't restore your eyesight to normal. But they can help preserve it for many years, even a lifetime. Most people with glaucoma don't go blind.

The better your eyesight is to start with, the easier it is to protect it.
 
 
 
 
 
Source:
Royal College of Ophthalmologists.
Guidelines for the management of open angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. 2004.
Available at http://www.library.nhs.uk/eyes/ViewResource.aspx?resID=93140 (accessed on 11 July 2008).
 
 
 
 
 
1 So the best thing you can do is to get your eyes tested regularly and go for treatment early.
 
 
 
 
 
Source:
Henson DB, Thampy R.
Preventing blindness from glaucoma.
BMJ. 2005; 331: 120-121.
 
 
 
 
 
2
 
 
 
 
 
Source:
Alward WLM.
Medical management of glaucoma.
New England Journal of Medicine. 1998; 339: 1298-1307.
 
 
 
 
 
3 If you have a high risk of getting glaucoma, you should have a full eye exam at least every two years.
 
 
 
 
 
Source:
National Eye Institute.
Facts about glaucoma.
Available at http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/glaucoma/glaucoma_facts.asp (accessed on 11 July 2008).
 
 
 
 
 
4

Glaucoma is a long-term disease. You may need treatments and regular checkups for many years.

Sources for the information on this page:
  1. Royal College of Ophthalmologists.Guidelines for the management of open angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. 2004.Available at http://www.library.nhs.uk/eyes/ViewResource.aspx?resID=93140 (accessed on 11 July 2008).
  2. Henson DB, Thampy R.Preventing blindness from glaucoma.BMJ. 2005; 331: 120-121.
  3. Alward WLM.Medical management of glaucoma.New England Journal of Medicine. 1998; 339: 1298-1307.
  4. National Eye Institute.Facts about glaucoma.Available at http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/glaucoma/glaucoma_facts.asp (accessed on 11 July 2008).
This information was last updated on Jul 29, 2008
BMJ Group
This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
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