Myth #1: Glaucoma is a disease that only happens to older people.

Fact: Everyone is at risk for glaucoma from babies to senior citizens. Yes, older people are at a higher risk for glaucoma but babies get glaucoma (approximately 1 out of every 10,000 babies born in this country is born with glaucoma), young adults can get glaucoma, and African-Americans especially are susceptible at a younger age than Caucasians.

Myth #2: People with glaucoma lose peripheral vision.

Fact: It is a misconception that patients with glaucoma lose peripheral vision. "Peripheral vision" for most people means vision off to the side. That is, when a person is looking straight ahead, peripheral vision means vision way off to the right side and way off to the left side. But that kind of "side" vision is, in fact, the last part of the vision to be lost in people with glaucoma.

Myth #3: Glaucoma is a well-defined condition.

Fact: "Glaucoma" encompasses such a wide variety of different conditions that the word itself is almost meaningless. For example, some patients with glaucoma can become totally blind within a period of a half an hour. Others can be damaged by the glaucomatous process so slowly that even after 20 years, there is still no awareness of any decrease in visual function.

Myth #4: Glaucoma is curable.

Fact: Glaucoma is not curable, however, it is manageable. But first it must be diagnosed. Often glaucoma can be managed with medication and/or surgery. This means that further loss of vision may be halted. However, glaucoma is a chronic disease that must be treated for life.

Myth #5: There are symptoms that will warn you of glaucoma.

Fact: With open angle glaucoma, the most common form, there are virtually no symptoms. There is usually no pain involved with the rise in eye pressure. Loss of vision begins with peripheral or side vision. This type of vision loss can be easily compensated for (by turning the head to the side) and may not be noticed until significant vision is lost. The best way to protect your sight from glaucoma is to be tested so that if you have glaucoma, treatment can begin immediately.

Myth #6: Glaucoma does not cause blindness.

Fact: Glaucoma can in fact cause blindness if it is left untreated. And unfortunately about 10% of people with glaucoma who receive proper treatment will still suffer loss of vision.

Myth #7: We can tell whether or not glaucoma is being controlled by monitoring the level of the intraocular pressure.

Fact: It is a misconception to think that control of glaucoma is measured in terms of the intraocular pressure. It is true that glaucoma is damage to the tissues of the eye that is at least partially caused by pressure higher than the eye can tolerate.

Nevertheless, people can go blind even though their intraocular pressure is fairly constantly as low as 12 mm Hg, well below the so-called "normal" level of pressure. Others can maintain pressures of 25 mm Hg -- much higher than "normal" -- for many, many years and yet never develop any damage at all.