Glaucoma

National Glaucoma Research (NGR), a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation was established in 1978 to fund research on and educate the public about glaucoma. Since the program's inception, NGR has awarded more than $14.2 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 the possibility of blindness. Optic nerve damage usually occurs in the presence of high intraocular pressure; however, it can occur with normal or even below-normal eye pressure. Worldwide, it is estimated that about 66.8 million people have visual impairment from glaucoma, with 6.7 million suffering from blindness.

In the United States, approximately 2.2 million people age 40 and older have glaucoma, and of these, as many as 120,000 are blind due the disease. The number of Americans with glaucoma is estimated to increase to 3.3 million by the year 2020. Vision experts estimate that half of those affected may not know they have it because symptoms may not occur during the early stages of the disease. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness among African Americans and Hispanics in the United States . African Americans experience glaucoma at a rate of three times that of Caucasians and experience blindness four times more frequently. Between the ages of 45 and 64, glaucoma is fifteen times more likely to cause blindness in African Americans than in Caucasians.

Vision experts estimate that half of those affected may not know they have it because symptoms may not occur during the early stages of the disease. By the time the patient notices something is wrong, the disease has already caused considerable damage. Unfortunately, the vision lost to glaucoma is gone forever. Medications and surgery can help slow the progression of the disease, but there is no cure.

Medical Illustrations

View an Anatomy of the Eye illustration.
View an illustration of the Flow of Aqueous Humor, which is often impaired in glaucoma.
View the Progression of Glaucoma Symptoms as seen through the eyes of the patient.

Fact Sheets

The Fact Sheets are available in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need Adobe Reader on your computer to access the PDF files. If you do not have this software, you may download a free copy from the Adobe website.

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Disclaimer:

The information that is provided in this section is a public service of National Glaucoma Research, a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF). It should not in any way substitute for the advice of a qualified health care professional and it is not intended to constitute medical advice. The organizations mentioned are not affiliated with AHAF. In addition, AHAF does not give any endorsement for any particular programs offered by these organizations.

Some of the information in this section of our website was obtained from the National Eye Institute.