BayCare Clinic Green Bay Eye Clinic is one of BayCare Clinic’s medical specialties providing high quality care. We treat patients throughout Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula including Green Bay, Appleton, and the Fox Cities.
For normal eye function, our eyes produce a fluid called aqueous humor, which provides nutrition for the eye. This fluid is produced and then drained from the eye through tubes. When there is more fluid produced then that which drains, fluid pressure builds up in the eye. This condition is known as glaucoma.
Glaucoma affects the optic nerve cells in the back of the eye which have died. This may be due partly to pressure inside the eye exerted by the excess fluid which is too high for the nerve cells in that particular eye to tolerate (“glaucoma tearing”). The optic nerve cells transform light entering the eye into electrical impulses, which are then understood by the brain. When too many of these cells die, vision may be lost.
“Glaucoma” encompasses many conditions under its definition. There are different types of glaucoma which progress very quickly while others may show only minor signs of loss over many years. Some types of glaucoma affect both eyes, whereas other types affect only one eye. Further, some types of glaucoma are very strongly hereditary, while others have no link to familial tendencies.
Most important, if untreated, as glaucoma advances it can damage sight. The best ways to test for glaucoma are found in a thorough eye examination by an ophthalmologist. Your glaucoma specialist will be the best person to monitor your condition and tell you what you might expect. Remember, without diagnosis and treatment, glaucoma symptoms can lead to total loss of sight.
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