What is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the optic nerve leading to an irreversible loss of vision.

Why does this happen?

The main known cause is an increase in pressure inside the eye, a consequence of an imbalance between the formation and drainage of the aqueous humor (the liquid inside the eye). The increase in intraocular pressure damages internal structures of the eye, mainly the optic nerve.
But this is not the only risk factor, because other factors such as age, race, family history of glaucoma and/or genetic factors are also present and furthermore there are eyes with normal pressure which can also suffer from glaucoma.

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What are cataracts?

Cataracts occur when the lens loses it’s transparency and becomes opaque.
The lens is an internal structure of the eye whose function is to focus images clearly and sharply on the retina, in addition to being a natural sunlight filter.

There are several causes for the development of cataracts:

• Congenital Cataract: diseases during pregnancy can cause the newborn to be born with
  cataracts.
• Cataracts due to altered metabolism (as in diabetes mellitus, amongst others).
• Cataracts due to the taking of drugs (such as with the taking of corticosteroids, amongst others).
• Cataract due to severe eye trauma or exposure to radiation.
• Senile cataracts: are the most frequent. With the passage of time, the lens hardens and loses its
  transparency, becoming yellow, brown or even black, impacting on vision.
  At first the colors are less intense, as if seen through a waterfall (hence its name); Halos can be seen around lights, especially in the dark and little by little there is a loss of clarity in distance vision that can not be completely corrected with glasses. All this, produces a significant decrease
  of visual quality.

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What is retina?

The retina is the innermost layer of the eye. It consists of a set of neurons whose job it is to transform the information that the eye receives in the form of light into nerve impulses that travel to the brain.

The retina is nourished by blood vessels that provide the oxygen and nutrients necessary for its proper functioning.

Any damage to the retina will result in a significant limitation of vision, since it is a key part of the eye.

The therapeutic armament available at present consists of laser therapies, injections of drugs
into the eye or surgery depending on the condition requiring treatment.

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What is Paediatric Ophthalmology?

Paediatric Ophthalmology is a subspeciality of ophthalmology responsible for the study of both the normal development of the child’s vision and its abnormalities.

Children’s vision develops progressively throughout childhood, the early years being the most critical. It is crucial to achieve normal visual development that follows both their physical and intellectual growth.

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What is the Ocular Surface?

The ocular surface is the most anterior part of the eye, the part we see when we look at another person.

The ocular surface consists of a series of ocular structures that work together and are essential for good vision. These are the tear glands (responsible for tear formation), the eyelids (responsible for distributing tears and protecting the eye from external agents), the conjunctiva (special skin of the eye that covers the white part where there are glands whose secretion is part of the tear) and the cornea (the transparent structure in front of the pupil and many colored iris).

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What is neuro-ophthalmology?

Neuro-ophthalmology is a subspeciality within ophthalmology that studies and analyzes the eye as part of the eye-brain visual system. It can be considered a subspeciality that connects ophthalmology and neurology.

The photosensitive part of the eye (the retina), is composed of neurons, and like the rest of the nervous system is directly connected to the brain and can indeed be considered as an extension of the brain. Therefore, pathologies that affect the nervous system, such as trauma, tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, etc, will have repercussion in the eye, and therefore affect vision.

We must not forget that we have two eyes, and vision is the sum of what both eyes see (binocular vision). In order to “form” binocular vision, the eyes must be fixed on the same point and for this, the different muscles that are involved in directing the eyes where we want, must work in harmony
and balance.

Neuro-ophthalmology also studies and treats possible imbalances between the control of these
muscles to eliminate any double vision produced.

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