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The glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world and it is a devastating problem here in the United States. It has often been called the thief of sight. That is because it has no symptoms, particularly in the primary open angle most common variety of glaucoma has no symptoms until one loses vision. Glaucoma is often thought of as a problem with high pressure, but in fact, it is a disease of the optic nerve. It is called an optic neuropathy. There are lots of causes. There is no one disease. There are lots of causes. There are risk factors such as high pressure, family history, diabetes has been thought in some series to be a risk factor as is nearsightedness for glaucoma. Ethnicity, race is important. Blacks for instance have a more devastating form and a higher instance of glaucoma than the white race. Japanese-Americans are noted for low-tension glaucoma - that is glaucoma without having an elevated pressure, and Asian Americans in general have a high instance of angle closure glaucoma. There are lots of diseases, particularly those that cause inflammation in the eye and well just a lot of diseases that can lead to glaucoma.