Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a disease that causes a gradual degeneration of cells that make up the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain. As the nerve cells die, vision is slowly lost, usually beginning in the periphery. Often, the vision loss is unnoticeable until a significant amount of nerve damage has occurred.

Between three and four million Americans have glaucoma; including an estimated 1.5 to two million people who do not even know they have the disease. The most common type of glaucoma develops gradually and painlessly, with no symptoms for an extended period of time. Left untreated, loss of sight vision will occur and may eventually lead to blindness.