Glaucoma is a group of disorders causing progressive optic nerve damage and vision loss, often linked to increased eye pressure, with no cure available once vision is lost. It is the second leading cause of blindness globally, with risk factors including age, family history, ethnicity, existing medical conditions, and prior eye injuries. The condition is asymptomatic initially, making early diagnosis crucial, as there are various types such as open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma.

2. Glaucoma can be defined as a group of disorders that lead to progressive optic nerve damage
which later cause loss of nerve tissue resulting to vision loss.
Glaucoma is often linked to increased internal eye pressure (ocular hypertension). If glaucoma
goes untreated, or uncontrolled, it first causes peripheral vision loss and later can cause full
blindness.
Glaucoma Stats and Facts
 Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness across the world. Glaucoma can
cause blindness if it is left untreated. However, about 10% of glaucoma patients who
receive proper treatment still lose their vision.
 Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness (behind cataracts) across the globe.
 Glaucoma has no cure and once vision is lost it cannot be regained. With surgery or
medications further loss of vision can be halted. Glaucoma is a chronic condition which
requires monitoring for life. Diagnosis for this condition is the first step to preserving
your vision.
 Almost everyone is at risk of developing glaucoma. Older people are at the highest risk
but some factors such as eye injury, ethnicity and other medical conditions can increase
your risk of getting glaucoma.
 Glaucoma has no warning signs or symptoms. Increased eye pressure is accompanied by
no pain and vision loss begins with side or peripheral vision.
 More than 3 million Americans have glaucoma but only half of them know they have the
condition.
 More than 120,000 Americans are blind from glaucoma which accounts to 12 percent of
all blindness cases.
 African-Americans are 6 to 8 times more likely to develop glaucoma compared to
Caucasians.
 Blindness from glaucoma is 15 times more likely for African-Americans than Caucasians.
 Open angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma accounting for 19% of all
blindness cases in the United States.
 There are over 60 million suspected cases of glaucoma worldwide.
Risk Factors of Glaucoma
Since chronic forms of glaucoma can destroy your vision before any warning signs or symptoms,
you should know the following risk factors that may make you susceptible to this condition:
 Advanced Age

3. Age is one of the major factors that put you at an increased risk of developing glaucoma,
especially if you are 60 years old and above. Studies show that the elderly aged 80 years and
above have 3 to 10 times the risk of developing this condition compared to individuals in their
40s. However, if you are African-American, the risk of glaucoma increases much earlier after the
age of 40. If you fall within this class, you should begin going for yearly eye exams.
 Family History
Your family history of glaucoma such as parent or child having the condition puts you at ahigher
risk of developing the condition usually associated with family genetics. If your relatives or any
member of your extended family has glaucoma, you may be susceptible to the condition. This
means that your family line may carry some defective genes that make every member prone to
glaucoma.
 Elevated Internal Eye Pressure
Internal eye pressure that is higher than normal can as well increase your risk of developing
glaucoma. Though not all people who have elevated eye pressure develop the condition,
studies show that most people with glaucoma have intraocular pressure (IOP) higher than 21
mm Hg. Most eye specialists define the range of normal IOP as between 10 and 21 mm Hg.
 Ethnicity
As mentioned earlier, ethnicity is a glaucoma risk factor when you consider that African-
Americans aged 40 years and above are among the highest risks group for developing the
condition. On the other hand, Asians are prone to acute angle-closure glaucoma while Japanese
people are prone to normal-tension glaucoma.
 Medical Conditions
Some existing medical conditions have been linked to glaucoma. Such conditions include high
blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, migraine, and chronic allergy.
 Eye Injury or Surgery
Major eye injuries such as trauma, history of multiple eye surgeries for chronic eye conditions
or sport injuries put you at higher risk of developing glaucoma. For example, blunt trauma can
cause eye inflammation or affect the anatomy of the eye drainage system predisposing the
patient to glaucoma development. Other eye injuries that can put you at increased risk of
developing glaucoma include lens dislocation and detached retina.
 Corticosteroid Use

4. Studies show that people who use corticosteroids for longer periods, especially those with long-
term allergies have increased risk of developing secondary glaucoma.
Types of Glaucoma
Below are major types of glaucoma you should know:
1. Open-Angle
Open angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma seen in almost 90% of a glaucoma
diagnosis. It develops slowly and without any tangible symptoms. This type of glaucoma occurs
when the trabecular meshwork is blocked. Trabecular meshwork major function is to drain
aqueous fluid from the front of the eye. If this fluid fails to drain, pressure is built on the eye,
reducing vision slowly.
2. Angle-closure Glaucoma
This is the second common type of glaucoma from open angle. This form of glaucoma is caused
by drainage problems linked to trabecular meshwork. It occurs when there is an angle or
narrow space between the iris and the cornea. The contact of the trabecular meshwork and the
iris traps fluid in the eye causing vision problems. This form of glaucoma may develop very
quickly.
Other forms of glaucoma include:
3. Congenital Glaucoma
This is a rare form of glaucoma which is present at birth. This occurs when a child has
incomplete of malformed trabecular meshwork that may prevent fluid from draining from the
eye.
4. Secondary Glaucoma
This is glaucoma that is caused by other body conditions such as eye injury, tumor, diabetes and
infections. It occurs when the optic nerve is damaged because of the high intraocular pressure
that may lead to loss of vision. It is diagnose as either angle-closure or open-angle glaucoma
depending on what happens to the eye after the internal pressure is elevated.
5. Pigmentary Glaucoma

5. This is a form of glaucoma that occurs when the actual eye pigments in the iris detach and
move through aqueous humor. If the pigment embeds in the trabecular meshwork canals, it
may clog the fluid draining leading to increased pressure in the eye.
6. IridoCorneal Endothelial Syndrome
This is a rare form of glaucoma that occurs when cells from the cornea grow over the drainage
system blocking it.
7. Pseudoexfolative Glaucoma
This is a form of glaucoma that occurs when cells are shed from the lens and get trapped in the
drainage canals blocking them. It is considered a secondary type of glaucoma and is mainly
found in patients with open-angle glaucoma.