Important facts you should know about glaucoma:
1.According to the National Eye Institute of the National Institute of Health, more than 4 million people in the United States have glaucoma. 2.Glaucoma causes damage to the optic nerve (the nerve that connects the eyes and the brain) usually as a result of increased pressure in the eye. 3.Early stages of the disease diminish peripheral vision. If the disease is not controlled, glaucoma often eventually causes total blindness. 4.The best way to detect glaucoma is through a dilated eye exam. The eye doctor views the optic nerve for signs of glaucoma. 5.Anyone can get glaucoma but you are at increased risk for developing glaucoma if you have the following risk factors: over 40 diabetes high blood pressure African American or Hispanic descent family history of the diseaseEarlier this month in our first blog post for Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month, we touched on the most common vision problems that often accompany diabetic eye disease.
While diabetic retinopathy and cataracts are both vision diseases that can target people with type 2 diabetes, glaucoma is another dangerous disease that can cause a loss of vision for people with diabetes and, once lost, vision cannot normally be recovered.
However, this dangerous vision problem does not just affect those with diabetes. In fact, glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness around the world. It affects one in 200 people aged 50 and younger, and one in 10 over the age of eighty