Glaucoma - Eye Conditions

Glaucoma is a condition whereby the pressure of fluid in the front part of the eye is too high.

The image below is a photograph of the back of the eye of a person with this condition captured by Digital Retinal Photography.

This high pressure in turn affects the head of the optic nerve seen in this image as a pale circle. This nerve connects the eye to the brain and carries all the visual messages.

In this case the nerve head (or disc) has become paler than normal and is cupped in its centre (crater-like) which damages the nerve fibre, affecting initially a persons peripheral vision.

This is typically a slow process underlying the importance of regular eye tests and early detection.