Everyone should be concerned about glaucoma?

Everyone should be concerned about glaucoma and its effects. It is important for each of us, from infants to senior citizens, to have our eyes checked regularly, because early detection and treatment of glaucoma are the only way to prevent vision impairment and blindness. There are a few factors related to this disease which tend to put some people at greater risk:
•People over the age of 40.
While glaucoma can develop in younger patients, it occurs more frequently as we get older. •People who have a family history of glaucoma.
Glaucoma appears to run in families. The tendency for developing glaucoma may be inherited. However, just because someone in your family has glaucoma does not mean that you will necessarily develop the disease. •People with abnormally high intraocular pressure (IOP).
High IOP is the most important risk factor for glaucomatous damage. •People of African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American descent.
African-Americans and Hispanics have a greater tendency for developing primary open-angle glaucoma than do people of other races. Asian-Americans are more prone to develop angle-closure glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma.
•People who have: ◦Diabetes ◦Myopia (nearsightedness) ◦Regular, long-term steroid/cortisone use ◦A previous eye injury ◦A family history of glaucoma
◦Extremely high or low blood pressure
Everyone under 40 should have a comprehensive eye examination every three to four years. Individuals under 40 with one of the above risk factors should get tested every one and a half to two years. Everyone 40 years or older should have a comprehensive eye examination every one and a half to two years. If you are 40 and have an additional risk factor listed above, get tested annually. Anyone with high risk factors should be tested every year or two after 35.

Normal Tension Glaucoma (NTG).

Normal tension glaucoma is also known as low-tension glaucoma or normal pressure glaucoma. In this type of glaucoma, the optic nerve is damaged even though intraocular pressure (IOP) is not very high. Doctors do not know why some people’s optic nerves suffer damage even though pressure levels are in the “normal” range (between 12-22 mm Hg).

Those at higher risk for this form of glaucoma are people with a family history of normal tension glaucoma, people of Japanese ancestry, and people with a history of systemic heart disease, such as irregular heart rhythm. Normal tension glaucoma is usually detected after an examination of the optic nerve.

The Glaucoma Research Foundation sponsored a collaborative international study to help determine the best treatment for this type of glaucoma. The study concluded that eye drops used to lower intraocular pressure were effective even in cases of normal tension glaucoma. Currently, most doctors treat normal tension glaucoma by keeping normal eye pressures as low as possible with medicines, laser surgery, or filtering surgery.