Q: What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve and can result in loss of the visual field or blindness if left untreated. The damage is progressive. It begins with a loss of peripheral vision, moves to reductions in the center of the visual field, and eventually leads to blindness. The progression of glaucoma can be stopped. However, damage to the optic nerve and the subsequent losses of vision are permanent.

The damage to the optic nerve is associated with elevated pressures of aqueous fluid within the eye. The major types of the disease include primary open-angle, angle-closure, several forms of secondary, congenital, juvenile, and low- or normal-tension glaucoma.

Q: How many people have glaucoma?
Nearly 2.2 million Americans 40 years of age and older have the most common form of glaucoma. About half of them are not aware that they have the disease.

Q: Is glaucoma a significant cause of blindness?
Yes. It is one of the leading causes of blindness, accounting for up to 12% of all cases of blindness in the United States.

Q: Who is at risk of developing glaucoma?

• People of African or Asian ancestry are at a higher risk for glaucoma than whites. Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among blacks and is 6 to 8 times more common in blacks than in whites.
• People with a history of glaucoma in their immediate family.
• People with high internal eye pressure; however, some people with normal internal eye pressure may still suffer optic nerve damage, which results in loss of vision.
• Diabetics have an increased risk of developing glaucoma.

Q: How is glaucoma detected?
Screening tests are most likely to detect glaucoma in its early stages. If physicians find that a patient has high internal eye pressure or there appears to be damage to the optic nerve during a screening examination, additional testing will be needed to make a final diagnosis. Those tests include measuring intraocular pressure, measuring the thickness of the cornea, mapping the field of peripheral vision, optic nerve and retinal imaging, and examining the angle in the eye from which aqueous fluid normally drains.

Q: What are the symptoms of glaucoma?
One of the most serious concerns about glaucoma is that it often has no symptoms or signs in its early stages. In the later stages of the disease, some of the following symptoms may be present:

• Headache
• Blurred vision
• Loss of peripheral vision
• An inability to adjust the eye to the level of light in darkened rooms
• Difficulty focusing on close work
• Rainbow-colored rings or halos around lights
• Frequent need to change eyeglass prescriptions.

Q: How is glaucoma treated?
Glaucoma is managed through the use of medications, lasers, and surgical procedures, or a combination of the three. All therapies reduce internal eye pressure by slowing the production of aqueous fluid, increasing the outflow of aqueous from the eye, or both. Although all forms of therapy have risks, the risks are outweighed by the fact that failure to control glaucoma will result in blindness.

Q: Is there a cure for glaucoma?
No. Vision that has been lost to the disease cannot be recovered. However, drugs and, if necessary, lasers and surgery can be used to stop the progress of the disease.

Q: What is the best way to prevent vision loss from glaucoma?
Early detection through regular eye examinations. Everyone, even those not at risk for glaucoma, should have a regular eye examination every 2 years after age 40. During those examinations, physicians will routinely screen patients for glaucoma. For Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare will pay the costs of an annual dilated eye examination for people with diabetes, those with a family history of glaucoma, and African Americans aged 50 years and older.

Q: What kind of physician treats glaucoma?
Ophthalmologists (medical doctors who specialize in treating the eye) who have sub-specialized in treating glaucoma treat all of the many forms of the disease with a variety of drugs, lasers, and filtration microsurgery procedures. If you would like to locate an ophthalmologist who specializes in treating glaucoma, click here.