Jan 13, 2015
By: Neyal Ammary-Risch, MPH, MCHES, National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damages the eye’s optic nerve, which carries visual signals to the brain. It can lead to vision loss or blindness if left untreated. Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of this disease and often has no symptoms in its early stages. Quite frequently, by the time people are diagnosed with glaucoma, they’ve already begun to notice changes in their side, or peripheral, vision.
While anyone can get glaucoma, people at higher risk include African Americans age 40 and older; everyone over age 60, especially Hispanics/Latinos, people with diabetes, and those with a family history of the disease.
Currently, 2.7 million Americans have glaucoma and studies show that at least half of all people with it don’t know they have this potentially blinding eye disease. But, the good news is that glaucoma can be detected in its early stages through a comprehensive dilated eye exam.
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