Glaucoma Runs in My Family: Does That Mean I’ll Get It?

Genetic factors do increase the risk of glaucoma. This disease damages the optic nerve and is the leading cause of blindness. Since it often doesn’t show early symptoms, how can you protect your vision? 

Focus Refined Eye Care in Montrose and The Heights sections of Houston, Texas, can help you address your risk factors and monitor your eyesight for signs of glaucoma through screenings. 

However, it can help to understand the overall disease. 

What is glaucoma? 

Glaucoma is a category of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve. The optic nerve sends visual communication from the eye to the brain in fractions of a second. When vision is healthy, this happens in fractions of a second, but with glaucoma, elevated eye pressure or damage impacts vision. 

There are four types of glaucoma, but open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common in adults. This type of glaucoma happens when your eye’s drainage canals stop draining correctly. Instead, the liquid builds up, which puts pressure on your optic nerve and damages it. 

Then there is closed-angle, normal tension (which doesn’t involve fluid build-up), and congenital build-up (in babies.) 

Each of these affects your eyesight differently and has different risk factors. 

Glaucoma risk factors 

As mentioned, research shows genetics do increase your risk. If you have parents or siblings with glaucoma, you can protect yourself by getting regular screenings because, often, glaucoma doesn’t have early warning signs. 

Race plays a role in your risk of glaucoma, too. For example, African Americans are at higher risk, and people with Asian heritage are at a greater risk for normal tension glaucoma. Normal tension glaucoma is not based on fluid build-up but instead can relate to blood pressure or diabetes. 

Overall, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness, and while it’s most common in older adults, everyone is at risk, and there’s no cure. If you catch it early through diagnostic testing, it’s possible to slow the advance of glaucoma. 

Glaucoma symptoms 

Often, there are no early signs. However, as the disease progresses, you may notice blind spots in your peripheral vision. Later, your overall vision can take a nosedive. 

With the acute closed-angle version of glaucoma, you might have headaches, blurred vision, or eye pain. 

Regular screenings are the best way to keep an “eye” on glaucoma. 

Dr. Bimal Patel at Focus Refined Eye Care offers four types of glaucoma screenings, including:

The gold standard for glaucoma screenings is optical coherence tomography (OCT). This noninvasive imaging tool uses light waves to create 3D, cross-sectional images of your optic nerve and surrounding structures. If there are changes, this can indicate early stages of glaucoma. 

Another test is the optical pressure test, which measures your optical nerve pressure. Detecting pressure on this nerve can be an early sign of glaucoma. 

Regular eye exams help protect your eyesight. 

Focus Refined Eye Care is located in the Montrose and The Heights sections of Houston, Texas. You can make an appointment for your eye exam with our online scheduling tool and feel confident about your eye health.