Glaucoma is a condition that causes damage to your eye’s optic nerve and gets worse over time. It’s often associated with a buildup of pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma can cause blindness if it is left untreated. Only about half of the estimated three million Americans who have glaucoma are even aware that they have the condition. When glaucoma develops, usually you don’t have any early symptoms and the disease progresses slowly.
60.5 million people worldwide have glaucoma. Given the aging of the world’s population, this number may increase to almost 80 million by 2020.
The World Health Organization predicts that by the year 2020, 11.2 million people will be blind from glaucoma unless prevention efforts are intensified.