Glaucoma: is your family at risk?
20 July 2003
National Glaucoma Awareness Week, 20-26 July, this year focusses on how glaucoma runs in families: people who have a relative with glaucoma are about 3 times more likely to develop the condition than people who do not have a relative with glaucoma.
Glaucoma Australia encourages people with glaucoma to tell their relatives that they have the condition, so that family members can have their eyes checked. The risk of developing glaucoma also increases with ageing.
Glaucoma is a condition of the eye that is usually associated with increased pressure within the eye, leading to damage to the nerve of vision — the optic nerve — and to the retina.
Glaucoma usually comes on slowly, progressively causing loss of sight if left undetected and untreated.
The early stages of glaucoma often go undetected, however, a simple eye test can pick up these early changes — before you are aware of them — and allow treatment to start that aims to prevent any further damage to your eyes and to preserve your sight. Any loss of vision that has already occurred cannot be reversed.
Knowing that someone in your family has glaucoma can act as a trigger for you to have your eyes checked.
Glaucoma Australia recommends that everyone over 40 years of age who has a relative with glaucoma should have their eyes tested for glaucoma by their eye care practitioner.
Last Reviewed: 21 July 2003
