January is glaucoma awareness month, and Fighting Blindness Canada is warning of the impact of the eye disease.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in Canada and is a disease that damages the optic nerve due to a build-up of pressure in the eye. Around 730,000 Canadians have glaucoma.

Director of Research and Mission Programs, Larissa Moniz, warns that often times there are very few symptoms in the early stages of the disease.

She says in many cases, people cannot tell they are losing vision because their eyes adapt. She says going for regular eye exams is important to detecting glaucoma.