Medical Health Issues

Health Issue: Glaucoma

Overview and Facts

Glaucoma refers to a group of disorders that lead to damage to the optic nerve, the nerve that carries visual information from the eye to the brain.

Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness in the United States. There are four major types of glaucoma:

• Angle-closure (acute) glaucoma
• Congenital glaucoma
• Open-angle (chronic) glaucoma * the most common type of glaucoma
• Secondary glaucoma