What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a chronic, progressive, degenerative disorder of the optic nerve that produces characteristic visual field damage. Glaucoma is the second cause of blindness, and importantly: it is irreversible.
It is estimated that around 80 million people have glaucoma worldwide. Approximately 50% of the individuals with glaucoma are unaware that they have the disease, and this number may be even higher in underdeveloped countries. This is because in its early stages, glaucoma is asymptomatic. If untreated, glaucoma may progress to blindness.
Periodic testing allows early diagnosis to prevent visual disability.
What is World Glaucoma Week?
World Glaucoma Week is a global initiative of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) in order to raise awareness on glaucoma. Through a series of engaging worldwide activities, patients, eye-care providers, health officials and the general public are invited to contribute to sight preservation. The goal is to alert everyone to have regular eye (and optic nerve) checks in order to detect glaucoma as early as possible.
To find out more about Glaucoma, along with how to detect it and what the available means of treatment are, visit the “World Glaucoma Week” website, and have a look at the PDFs and Infographic below. We urge everyone to take very good care of their eyes – you only have the two, after all.
Educational PDFs
Glaucoma Infographic
