Page 63 - Demo

Supporting you Supporting you 63Some common confusions about glaucomaLiz Ball, Health Information ManagerGlaucoma is a group of diseases, not just one. This can lead to some confusion. Let%u2019s explore some common mix-ups.High eye pressure and glaucoma are the same thing.%u201dGlaucoma is the name for a group of eye diseases where your optic nerve has become damaged. Glaucoma is often linked to high eye pressure because this can damage your optic nerves.But you can have damage to your optic nerve even if your eye pressure is within the %u2018normal%u2019 range. This is called normal tension or low tension glaucoma.Contrary to this, your optic nerve may be okay even if your eye pressure is high. This is called ocular hypertension. It is not glaucoma because there%u2019s no damage to your optic nerve.Ocular hypertension must cause sight loss or people with ocular hypertension would not need regular checkups.%u201dIn ocular hypertension, your optic nerve looks fine, and your sight%u2019s fine. But your optic nerve is coping with higher pressure. At some point, that high pressure may start to damage the nerve. If your optic nerve starts to show signs of damage, it means ocular hypertension has developed into glaucoma.Five years after developing ocular hypertension, around 2 in 20 people have glaucoma and 18 do not. But after 20 years, around 9 out of 20 people have glaucoma and 11 do not. In other words, high eye pressure puts you at risk of glaucoma. As time goes on, this risk gets higher.%u201c%u201c