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You know how it is when you look through a telescope—even though you are focusing on an image, you’re still aware that you’re looking through a tube.

But what if you have this sensation without looking through a telescope? If you notice that you are gradually losing your field of vision in one eye, you may have glaucoma, which is one of the most common eye problems today and one of the leading causes of blindness. In addition to your monocular field loss, other symptoms of glaucoma may include eye pain, blurred vision, and redness. Though glaucoma usually begins in one eye, it will eventually affect the vision in both eyes. As a result, both eyes will have to undergo treatment at the same time, even if only one eye shows symptoms of the disease.

Glaucoma is a condition in which the aqueous humor, the fluid that lubricates the outside of the eyeball, is unable to drain out of the eye normally. This usually occurs because of a blockage in the drainage channel that allows the fluid to drain out of the eye and into the veins that surround the eye.

When the drainage channel is blocked, the fluid drains away more slowly than usual or may become totally blocked. When this happens, the fluid builds up in the eye, creating pressure on the vitreous humor, the gel-like substance that makes up the internal part of the eyeball. This, in turn, presses on the vessels that provide the optic nerve with a steady flow of blood, slowing it down or stopping it completely. And when the blood flow ceases, the nerve begins to die, resulting in a gradual decline of vision.

Glaucoma usually begins to show up in people around the age of 40. There is also a genetic tendency to glaucoma; if a relative had the condition, you should be alert to changes in your eyesight and get medical attention promptly if you notice a one-eye field loss or develop a feeling of looking through a tube.

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