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For Glaucoma Awareness Month New Resources Available on Importance of Glaucoma Screening

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BrightFocus Foundation Targets At-Risk Populations with Free English and Spanish Infographics, Publications

CLARKSBURG, MD.—An estimated half of the three million Americans living with glaucoma may be unaware they have this sight-stealing disease. Once vision is lost to glaucoma, it can never be regained.  Vision loss can be prevented, however, if glaucoma is detected and treated early.

BrightFocus Foundation, in recognition of January’s Glaucoma Awareness Month, is offering free resources in English and Spanish to encourage comprehensive, dilated-pupil eye exams every one to two years for those at higher risk for this disease. That includes individuals with a family history of glaucoma, persons over the age of 60—particularly Hispanics—and African Americans over age 40.

“The terrible effects of this disease can be reduced through early detection,” said BrightFocus President and CEO Stacy Pagos Haller. “We want to get the word out to at-risk groups: eye exams can literally save your sight.”

Free BrightFocus resources include:

  • Glaucoma visual SnapShot
  • New Visual SnapShots, which graphically illustrate information on glaucoma prevalence, detection, and treatment.  Available in English and Spanish.
  • Publications, including the brochure Glaucoma-The Essential Facts, as well as booklets and fact sheets, and online BrightFocus Insight articles written by experts on glaucoma.
  • Educational videos and audio files, in English and Spanish, with information from doctors and patients.
  • Find an Eye Doctor Directories.

Glaucoma refers to a group of eye diseases that eventually lead to optic nerve damage, which can result in vision loss and, if not detected, complete blindness.  A growing segment of the Baby Boom generation is now over age 60 and thus more at risk for the disease. In the U.S., glaucoma is three to four times more common among African Americans and Hispanic populations than among Caucasians. In middle age, African Americans are 15 times more likely than non-Hispanic Caucasians to experience blindness from the disease.

BrightFocus Foundation is a nonprofit organization supporting research and public education to help eradicate brain and eye diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration and glaucoma. For more information, call 1-800-437-2423.