1.  What is glaucoma?

 Glaucoma is  a condition of the eye in which a fluid, aqueous humor, that normally is produced and drained from the eye at equal rates, does not drain properly causing pressure to build up within the eye.  This increase in intraocular pressure may be so slow and painless that a person may not realize it is occurring.  Compression of the optic nerve and the retina may eventually cause blindness.  Once damage starts occurring, some symptoms are seeing halos around lights at night and blurred vision.  If a person knows that there’s a history of glaucoma in the family, he/she should be especially aware of having yearly glaucoma tests after age 40.  The condition can be treated with eye drops and certain types of laser surgery.

2.  Is it true that there are tiny bones inside our ears?

 Yes, there are three tiny bones or ossicles in the middle ear which help to amplify sound waves and cause nerve impulses that the brain learns to interpret.  Sound waves cause the ear drum (tympanic membrane) to vibrate, and this in turn causes the ossicles to vibrate, amplifying sound up to 20 times.  The names of the bones in order from the ear drum are the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and the stapes (stirrup).  The stapes rests against a membrane (oval window) which will also be vibrated.  This causes a normally occurring fluid within the inner ear to stimulate cells to send impulses along the auditory nerve to the brain for interpretation.