Glaucoma can strike people of all ages, but people over sixty-five have more of a chance dealing with eye troubles. The most common form of glaucoma is open angle, which is characterized by increased pressure within the eye. The illness is five times more common in African-Americans than in Caucasians after age 40, the risk of glaucoma goes up with age for people of ethnic backgrounds. Chronic glaucoma, which affects 1 percent to 2 percent of Americans older than 40, is much more common than acute glaucoma. Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the normal fluid pressure inside the eyes slowly rises. This alone is not what glaucoma is; Glaucoma is a combination of 3 risk factors: Elevated Pressure, Optic Nerve Injury and Visual Loss.
Glaucoma has also been called the "sneak thief of sight", because is usually strikes without warning; therefore a victim of the disease is unaware of it until serious damage is already done. There are no symptoms and there is no pain, and vision stays relatively normal. As the disease progresses, a person with the disease MAY notice his or her vision getting slightly worse. Soon after this is when blindness occurs. There is one situation in which the on set of glaucoma is noticeable, when the intraocular pressure increases suddenly causing an angle-closure (acute glaucoma) attack. This is very painful and can happen in only a matter of hours. This risk is especially high if a member of the
