Understanding Glaucoma
How vision loss actually happens, why standard categories like NTG miss the underlying mechanism, and the daily inputs that move pressure, perfusion, and oxygen availability around the optic nerve.
The Ratchet Effect: How Vision Loss Actually Happens
Glaucoma damage isn't a gradual fade — it's discrete, irreversible events driven by oxygen disruption to the optic nerve.
Normal Tension Glaucoma: A Category Error
If your pressure looks normal but damage is progressing anyway, the simpler explanation is often that your pressure spikes between appointments — and nobody is looking.
IOP Diurnal Fluctuation: The Full Picture
Eye pressure isn't a single number — it's a curve. Understanding what's normal fluctuation, what's a spike, and what causes the difference is the foundation of self-management.
Vascular Dysfunction: A Deeper Look
The second of the three pathways: when blood and oxygen aren't reaching the optic nerve when they need to, even at normal pressure.
Altitude and Oxygen Availability
The third pathway: what altitude actually does to oxygen availability, how it affects the optic nerve, and the practical difference between visiting and living high.
The 10,000-Foot Cliff
Why 10,000 feet is a precise physiological threshold, not an approximation — and what cumulative metabolic debt means for the optic nerve.
Dietary Triggers: How What You Consume Affects IOP
Hidden triggers, their patterns, and why systematic measurement is the only reliable way to identify your specific ones.
Recognizing Optic Nerve Distress
Your optic nerve can tell you when it's in trouble — but only if you know what to look for. The recognition pattern, the contexts, and what to do.
How to Identify What Caused Your Spike
The practical methodology — establish baseline, build cleared list, isolate outliers, confirm by removal, substitute clean alternatives. Most triggers are findable in weeks, not years.