Some fairly serious eye diseases can develop imperceptibly for humans. However, in the end, they lead to serious problems, up to complete loss of vision. Such diseases include glaucoma, a chronic eye disease in which the patient has a significant increase in intraocular pressure. It is very important to diagnose this disease on time, since increased intraocular pressure can lead to loss of the optic nerve, which ultimately leads to blindness. Very often, people have a lot of questions about glaucoma, so the basic facts about glaucoma should be considered.

Glaucoma is the main cause of blindness

If untreated, glaucoma can lead to blindness. It should be noted that about 10% of people with glaucoma, even after the correct treatment of the disease, eventually lose their vision. 

Glaucoma is an incurable disease

It is impossible to cure a glaucoma, as well as restore the vision lost with this disease. Surgical intervention in the treatment of glaucoma can only stop further loss of vision. Open-angle glaucoma is a chronic disease, so the patient should be registered with an ophthalmologist and regularly undergo a re-examination throughout his life. The first step to preserving vision is modern diagnostics.

Everyone can get glaucoma

The disease can occur in any person, regardless of his age category. However, it should be noted that although the appearance of the disease in children is not excluded, it is more often diagnosed at an older age. Glaucoma can also develop in a teenager.

Glaucoma may be asymptomatic

The most common form of the disease – open-angle glaucoma is often asymptomatic, so problems with timely diagnosis of the disease can occur. As for the symptoms of glaucoma, the patient usually complains of discomfort and pain in the eyes associated with increased intraocular pressure. Loss of vision begins with a decrease in lateral vision. A person usually does not pay such signs of attention, compensating for them by turning his head and people do not suspect the appearance of glaucoma until the disease significantly affects their vision. At the same time, the angle-closure form of glaucoma is manifested by the characteristic signs of the disease: eye pain, headaches, redness of the eyes and some other symptoms. The best way to protect yourself from glaucoma is to be checked regularly with an optometrist, because the sooner treatment is started, the better it will give. 

Glaucoma Statistics

According to WHO estimates, in the United States more than 2.2 million people have the disease, but only half of these people know about the presence of this disease.

More than 120,000 people in the United States are blind because of glaucoma, which accounts for 9-12% of all cases of blindness. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. African Americans are more likely to go blind from glaucoma – 6-8 times more often than representatives of the European race. The risk group for the development of the disease includes people who have had a family history of the disease, as well as people with severe myopia. It is estimated that more than 60 million people are affected by glaucoma worldwide.