January is Glaucoma Awareness Month and we need to do everything we can to increase awareness of this devastating illness.
If people were truly aware of how serious glaucoma is, they would be significantly more proactive in trying to prevent it.
Before a person knows they even have it, glaucoma can take up to 40% of their vision and that will never be coming back.
There is no cure for glaucoma – surgery and medication can treat it or slow it down but the vision you lose to it does not come back. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness
It accounts for around 10% of all blindness and does so damaging the optic nerve. This nerve is what connects the brain to the eye.
So what can you do about it? Do an annual eye-exam, especially once you hit 50 years of age.