By Jeannette Franks, PhD
Glaucoma is a cluster of diseases that can damage the eye’s optic nerve and result in irreversible vision loss—and ultimately can cause total blindness. It is one of the leading causes of legal blindness in the US and probably the most preventable cause of vision loss. Glaucoma tends to run in families and most often occurs in people over the age of 60. As baby boomers age, we can anticipate more and more cases of glaucoma in seniors.
Anyone can get glaucoma, but for reasons that are not fully understood, it is more common in people of African-American and Mexican-American ancestry. In addition to family history, other risk factors include nearsightedness (myopia), previous eye injury, low blood pressure, diabetes, and long exposure to cortisone, a steroid hormone.
This article continues at Glaucoma In Seniors