About Glaucoma

National Glaucoma Research (NGR), a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation funds research on and educates the public about glaucoma. Since the program's inception, NGR has awarded more than $15.9 million to support basic research into the causes and potential treatments of this disease.

Glaucoma is actually a group of eye diseases that lead to damage of the optic nerve (the bundle of nerve fibers that carries information from the eye to the brain), which can then lead to vision loss and possibly blindness. Optic nerve damage usually occurs in the presence of high eye (intraocular) pressure; however, it can occur with normal or even less than normal eye pressure. Worldwide, an estimated 66.8 million people are visually impaired due to glaucoma, and an estimated 6.7 million are blind.

In the U.S., approximately 2.2 million people age 40 and older have glaucoma, and of these, as many as 120,000 are blind. An estimated 3.3 million of Americans could have glaucoma by the year 2020. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness among African Americans and Hispanics in the U.S. Three times as many African Americans have glaucoma than Caucasians, and four times as many are blind. Between the ages of 45 and 64, glaucoma is fifteen times more likely to cause blindness in African Americans than in Caucasians.

Vision experts believe that half of those affected by glaucoma may not know it, since there are usually no symptoms in its early stages. By the time an individual notices something is wrong, the disease has already caused considerable damage. Vision lost to glaucoma cannot be regained. Although there is no cure, medications and surgery can help slow the disease’s progression.

In this section you will learn more about the risk factors for glaucoma, its various forms and symptoms, as well as how doctors diagnose the disease.

Last Reviewed On: 12/18/09