National Glaucoma Awareness Month

Have you ever run up to a grandparent only to have them squint at you before recognizing your face, or not noticed someone waving at them in their periphery vision? The National Eye Institute estimates that out of 80 million Americans who will be age 65 and older in 2050, 6.3 million will have glaucoma. This is a collection of diseases that causes damage to the optic nerve, degenerating progressively with age. Glaucoma disrupts the images being sent to the brain, which ultimately leads to vision loss.

Understand more about glaucoma by learning about our visual system. Click the targets in the image below.

About the Author

Lynnie Fein-Schaffer

Lynnie is the former Outreach Associate for BrainFacts.org. She graduated from Smith College in 2017 with degrees in economics and psychology.