- A potentially a blinding condition
- Primary Open Angle Glaucoma is the second most common cause of irreversible blindness in the UK, the first being Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- Responsible for 12 out every 100,000 people aged 40 and over are certified as sight impaired or severely sight impaired from POAG
- Painless condition and patients may be unaware that they glaucoma until they have started to lose vision
Risk factors include:
- High eye pressure
- Increasing age
- Family history
- Shortsighted prescription (>-4)
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Thin cornea
- Afro-Caribbean ancestry