Glaucoma is a
disease which destroys the
functionality of your
eyes. It works like this:
Your eyes, like many other
body parts, are filled with
fluid which is constantly regulated. Circling your
pupil beneath your
iris is a
mesh which acts as a
drain for old fluid as your eye produces new fluid to replace it.
Glaucoma is an
abnormality in this mesh which hinders the drainage, causing an increase in
pressure. When a container is subject to destructive levels of pressure, the first part to sustain
damage is the
weakest. (That's why the top of a can of
soda is usually the part that ruptures when you leave it in the
freezer too long.) The weakest part in your
eye is the
optic nerve. As the pressure in the eye increases, the
optic nerve begins to sustain damage, causing first a degredation in
peripheral vision and then loss in the entire
visual field.
Though usually a result of advanced
age, glaucoma can be inherited through a
coupling of
recessive alleles, providing that the
offspring inherits both
recessive genes.(congenital glaucoma).
Early
detection and surgical
correction may stop the
source of the
damage, but current medical
technology cannot repair the nerve once it's been crushed.
Early detection with congenital glaucoma is difficult since
infants cannot report on the condition of their
eyesight.
Symptoms include:
- A cloudiness of the
pupil
- Extreme pain in the eyes
- gradual vision loss, especially peripheral
Since dialation of the pupils causes the area covered by the mesh to decrease, certain
medications should be avoided by people suffering from glaucoma, such as
cough medicines,
opiates and, in general, anything which causes the eyes to
dialate.(This includes
illegal drugs like
LSD and
XTC.)
As many people know from recent
media attention on
medical marijuana.
THC can
temporarily relieve the pressure in your eyes, making it
therapeutic for glaucoma sufferers.