What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is the name for a group of common eye conditions.  In fact two in every hundred people over 40 will experience it in the UK.  In all types of glaucoma the optic nerve becomes damaged.  This can affect your sight because the optic nerve carries information about what you're looking at to the brain.

It's hard to spot glaucoma.  The condition gradually begins to affect the very edge of your field of vision, which is easy to ignore.  And if one eye is less effective than the other your vision will naturally compensate for the affected eye.  So you could lose as much as 40% of the optic nerve before you begin to notice that your sight has been affected, leaving only the central field of vision, the so called blindness called tunnel vision.

Now glaucoma is very serious as damage caused to your eyesight is irreversible and can lead to blindness if left untreated.  However, continued vision loss can be prevented or slowed down in people who are diagnosed and treated early.  Nine out of ten people diagnosed with glaucoma will retain useful vision.