Study to help doctors predict vision loss in glaucoma

September 2, 2010

A new study published in the September issue of the medical journal Opthalmology will hopefully shed light on the risk of vision loss in glaucoma patients. The new data examined 6,630 individuals over a period of ten years, according to HealthCanal.com.

The patients involved in the research had optic nerve damage when the study began, but did not exhibit signs of visual field loss (VFL). Researchers then investigated what may have caused VFL to develop in certain patients over the course of the study.

"In this patient population, the risk of developing VFL was related to higher intraocular pressure (pressure within the eye, IOP), older age, a high level of myopia (nearsightedness), male gender, a family history of glaucoma, and a higher-vertical cup-to-disk ratio (a measurement of the optic nerve head,) Dr Johannes R Vingerling, who led the study, told the news source.

According to the American Optometric Association, glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the U.S., and typically affects people over the age of 40. Those with a family history of the disease are at a greater risk.