Even with treatment ,15% to 20% of patients become blind in at least one eye in 15 to 20 years of follow-up. In a recent study, Peters et al. found that at the last visit before death, 42.2% of treated patients were blind unilaterally and 16.4% bilaterally.
Glaucoma can cause blindness if it is left untreated. And unfortunately approximately 10% of people with glaucoma who receive proper treatment still experience loss of vision.
Glaucoma is a serious, lifelong eye disease that can lead to vision loss if not controlled. But for most people, glaucoma does not have to lead to blindness. That is because glaucoma is controllable with modern treatment, and there are many choices to help keep glaucoma from further damaging your eyes.
Glaucoma is a slowly progressing problem. On an average, untreated Glaucoma takes around 10-15 years to advance from early damage to total blindness.
Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness in the U.S. It most often occurs in people over age 40, although an infant (congenital) form of glaucoma exists.
One of the most frequent questions we get from patients with glaucoma is “Will I go blind?” Glaucoma is indeed a potentially blinding disease. Worldwide, it is the second most common cause for irreversible blindness. However, with early diagnosis and modern treatment, blindness is very uncommon.
Absolutely. The aim of treating patients with glaucoma is for them to be able to maintain their quality of life and live as normally as possible. Patients with glaucoma have a normal life expectancy and, with treatment, can carry out activities as they did before diagnosis.
If undetected and untreated, glaucoma first causes peripheral vision loss and eventually can lead to blindness. By the time you notice vision loss from glaucoma, it's too late.
Stage 4 (End-Stage) Glaucoma – This occurs when there is little to no healthy eye tissue left, and vision is increasingly limited. While blindness during end-stage glaucoma isn't a certainty, the risk is significantly elevated when this stage is reached.
While treatment for glaucoma cannot restore vision if it has already been lost, it can preserve remaining sight. Typically, many forms of glaucoma are first treated with daily eye drops or a laser procedure.
Prescription eye drops can stop glaucoma from progressing. Your eye care specialist will recommend how often to return for follow-up exams. Medicare covers a glaucoma test once a year for people in high-risk groups.
Although there is currently no cure for glaucoma, prompt treatment can help slow or stop the progression of vision loss. Depending on many factors, including your age and the type and severity of your glaucoma, treatment may include medications and/or surgery directed at lowering eye pressure.
Patients who catch glaucoma early can go on to live healthy, normal lives. Without treatment, however, optic nerve damage will likely continue, and patients will gradually and permanently lose peripheral vision.
Defining advanced glaucoma
This Glaucoma Staging Codes (GSC) categorisation considers glaucoma to be advanced if there is evidence of glaucomatous optic disc and visual field (VF) loss in both upper and lower hemifields and/or a defect encroaching within 5° of fixation.
The older a person is the higher the risk. About 5 percent of people age 65 and older develop glaucoma and 10 percent of those age 80 and older develop it.
Certain drugs and eye diseases can cause yet another form of the disease, called secondary glaucoma. But probably the most serious form of the disease is closed-angle glaucoma. It occurs when the angle becomes suddenly blocked, causing pressure in the eye to rise sharply.
At this time, there is no cure for glaucoma. However, with early detection and regular treatment from an eye doctor, glaucoma can usually be successfully managed to allow people living with glaucoma to live a normal, active life.
Older age is not only a risk factor for the diagnosis of glaucoma, but also for its progression. Overall, these studies show that the percentage of patients with glaucoma increases dramatically with age, especially in patients who are of Latino/Hispanic and African descent.
Summary. Living with glaucoma does not necessarily mean giving up driving. Some drivers with glaucoma learn to scan the visual environment such that they are still safe drivers. However, it is important to have your driving assessed if you or your family and friends are concerned about your driving.
Some of the newer medications on the market are eye drops called VYZULTA (latanoprostene bunod ophthalmic solution) and Rhopressa (netarsudil ophthalmic solution). VYZULTA is a modification of a current class of medications currently used to treat glaucoma – the prostaglandin analogs.
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness, and it has no cure.
8 Loss of vision in glaucoma has been traditionally described as “tunnel vision” or as if “looking through a straw” (courtesy: National Eye Institute and National Institutes of Health). Loss of peripheral vision for 1 eye indicates diminished vision toward the edges of the VF of that eye (Figures 2A and 2B).
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in the United States, affecting 1.9% of individuals older than 40 years.