Chronic glaucoma

For a lay person:

Chronic glaucoma is a long-term eye disease in which the optic nerve is slowly damaged, often linked to raised pressure inside the eye. It usually causes no symptoms until side vision is lost, mostly affects people over 40, and the damage cannot be reversed, so regular eye checks matter.

For a trained medical person:

Primary open-angle glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy with characteristic cupping of the optic disc and visual field loss, with intraocular pressure as the main modifiable risk factor; age, family history and African ancestry increase risk. Diagnosis combines tonometry, optic disc and OCT nerve-fibre assessment, gonioscopy and perimetry. First-line treatment is pressure-lowering eye drops such as prostaglandin analogues, with laser trabeculoplasty or surgery when needed.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Liver Qi Stagnation; Phlegm Fire Upward Attacking; Liver and Stomach Deficient Cold; Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: A suddenly painful red eye with blurred vision, haloes, headache or vomiting may be acute angle-closure glaucoma and needs emergency care. Keep using prescribed eye drops; herbs do not replace pressure-lowering treatment.