Your optometrist will refer you to an eye specialist for treatment if they consider you have glaucoma. Early detection and treatment is the best way to control glaucoma. People over the age of 40 years are far more likely to have glaucoma than younger people. Also, glaucoma tends to run in families. People with a blood relative who has suffered from glaucoma and people over 40 years of age are at risk and should have their eyes checked regularly by an optometrist.
Cataracts are a cloudy areas that form in the lens of the eye.
The lens is normally clear. Poor vision results because the cloudiness interferes with light entering the eye. The opacities in the lens scatter the light, causing hazy vision, in the same way that a dirty window scatters light. Normal eye, with no cataract. Light is focussed on the retina.