Glaucoma is a group of diseases of the optic nerve (nerve of the eye) involving loss of retinal ganglion/eye cells in a characteristic pattern of optic neuropathy(eye nerve damage). Although raised intraocular (eye) pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma, there is no set threshold for intraocular pressure that causes glaucoma. One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure, while another person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop nerve damage. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness. ...

Glaucoma is a group of diseases of the optic nerve (nerve of the eye) involving loss of retinal ganglion/eye cells in a characteristic pattern of optic neuropathy(eye nerve damage). Although raised intraocular (eye) pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma, there is no set threshold for intraocular pressure that causes glaucoma. One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure, while another person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop nerve damage. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness.

Glaucoma has been nicknamed "the silent sight thief". Worldwide, it is the third leading cause of blindness. Glaucoma affects one in two hundred people aged fifty and younger and one in ten over the age of eighty.