Of all serious eye diseases, Glaucoma is probably the sneakiest. That's because there are no discernable symptoms in most cases of early glaucoma — nothing to alert you that something's going wrong.

People who fail to have routine eye exams and develop glaucoma typically become aware of it only after they’ve sustained permanent vision loss from the disease. And by that time, controlling glaucoma to prevent additional vision loss can be very difficult. Without successful control with medical treatment and/or glaucoma surgery, the disease can lead to blindness.

Early detection of high eye pressure and other risk factors for glaucoma is possible only with routine eye exams. Vision screenings do little to nothing to identify or prevent glaucoma.

Annual eye exams are especially important for anyone with diabetes or who might be at risk for the disease (due to obesity, family history or other reasons). More than 30 million Americans with diabetes and another 84 million who have prediabetes are at risk for developing diabetic eye disease, the leading cause of blindness among adults. In its early stages, diabetic eye disease has no visible symptoms; only a comprehensive eye exam can detect signs of the disease so treatment can begin soon enough to prevent vision loss.