If I have glaucoma in one eye will it spread to the other eye?

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Primary open angle glaucoma generally affects both eyes, but does not always develop at the same time. One eye may have moderate or advanced glaucomatous damage, while the other eye has very little or none. This variation in the extent of the damage can cause confusion, and the mistaken perception that only one eye is involved. With time, most patients will develop glaucoma in both eyes. Acute angle closure glaucoma may also initially occur in only one eye, but there is a 40 to 80% chance that the other eye will develop angle closure over a 5 to 10 year period. For this reason, your doctor may decide to treat the unaffected eye to prevent an angle closure attack.

Some types of glaucoma such as secondary glaucoma caused by injury to the eye, usually affect one eye. Secondary glaucomas such as Fuch’s syndrome, pseudoexfoliation syndrome and iridocorneal endothelial (ICE) syndrome occur in only one eye a majority of the time, but can be bilateral.

Posted on September 19, 2008 12:01 PM

Comments (2)

Glaucoma can be cured with the use of cannabis.

Posted by Freddy | November 20, 2008 2:10 PM

Marijuana has been very well studied. Marijuana will lower intraocular pressure approximately 20% in nearly 60% of people who try it. However, it is only effective for two hours. A 60% response rate is terrible compared to the rate for modern eye drops. Cannabis has NOT been shown to cure glaucoma.

Unfortunately, with what we know today, we cannot restore vision lost from glaucoma. However, there is a great deal of research being done to repair or replace optic nerve cells injured by glaucoma, so that it will be possible in the future.

Here is a link to more information: http://www.glaucoma.org/questions/research/can_the_optic_nerve_be_regener.php

Posted by Glaucoma Research Foundation | November 20, 2008 2:49 PM