1.What is glaucoma? Glaucoma is a common eye disease that endangers human health and is currently one of the major causes of blindness. Its characteristic manifestations are sunken atrophy of the optic papilla and a characteristic narrowing of the visual field defect. Elevated intraocular pressure is the main risk factor. The increased intraocular pressure exceeds the limits of the intraocular tissues, mainly the retinal optic nerve, and causes damage to the intraocular tissues (including the cornea, iris and lens), especially the optic nerve. If effective treatment is not taken, the visual field can be completely lost and eventually lead to blindness. The blindness caused by glaucoma cannot be reversed and restored by current medical technology. 2. What is IOP? The pressure of the contents of the eye acting on the wall of the eye is the intraocular pressure (IOP for short). Statistically, an IOP of 10-21mmHg is defined as normal IOP. 3.Does high IOP necessarily mean glaucoma? The characteristic damage of glaucoma is the sunken atrophy of the optic papilla and the characteristic defective narrowing of the visual field. In some patients, the IOP exceeds 21 mmHg, but there is no damage to the optic nerve or visual field, so it cannot be called glaucoma. However, these patients should be followed up regularly. 4. Is it not glaucoma if the IOP is not high? The ability to tolerate IOP is different for each person, and there are a small number of patients whose IOP does not exceed 21 mmHg, but because of their poor ability to tolerate IOP, it can also cause damage to the optic nerve and visual field, which is called normal IOP glaucoma. 5. Can I tell if I have glaucoma? Glaucoma can have both acute and chronic clinical manifestations. In acute glaucoma, there are often eye swelling, ipsilateral headache, blurred vision, red and green circles around when looking at lights, sometimes accompanied by nausea and vomiting, mostly occurring when straining or staying in dark places for too long, such as the above symptoms should be suspected of having glaucoma, and need to go to the hospital for examination. Chronic glaucoma is often asymptomatic in the early stages of its development, and when vision loss is detected, it is already in the late stages of glaucoma, and the terrible thing is that this damage is irreversible. According to studies, 90% of patients with chronic glaucoma do not know they have the disease in the early stages and are not treated. For people who lack general knowledge of glaucoma prevention and treatment, they usually cannot judge themselves and need to rely on specialized consultations and examinations by ophthalmologists to confirm the diagnosis. It is necessary for people over 40 years of age to have a routine eye examination. 6. Is good vision not glaucoma? The damage of early glaucoma may only be manifested as visual field defects, and a large proportion of patients with chronic glaucoma can still have central vision of 0.8-1.0 in the late stage of the disease, but the visual field has been significantly reduced, and some people can’t even take care of themselves.