Glaucoma ducts, and narrowing or closure of the angle between the iris and cornea. The primary division in categorizing different types of glaucoma is open-angle and closed-angle (or angle-closure) glaucoma. In open angle glaucoma, the iris meets the cornea normally, allowing the fluid from inside the eye to drain, thus relieving the internal pressure. Where this angle is narrowed or closed, pressure increases over time, causing damage to the optic nerve, leading to blindness. Primary open-angle glaucoma (also, "primary glaucoma", "chronic glaucoma") refers to slow clogging of the drainage canals resulting in increased eye pressure which causes progressive optic nerve damage.
Glaucoma 2 million people in the United States. It occurs more commonly among older people. Closed-angle glaucoma is more common in women. Glaucoma has been called the "silent thief of sight" because the loss of vision usually occurs slowly over a long period of time. Worldwide, glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness after cataracts. The word "glaucoma" is from Ancient Greek "glaukos" which means blue, green, or gray. In English, the word was used as early as 1587 but did not become commonly used until after 1850, when the development of the ophthalmoscope allowed people to see the optic nerve