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IT'S called "the sneak thief of sight," and it strikes African-Americans at a higher rate than any other race. In fact, a staggering I in every 13 Blacks has glaucoma--a total of about 1.5 million persons of all ages and conditions. Because of a prevalence of other risk factors, Blacks are four to six times more likely to develop the disease than Whites. Not only that, Blacks develop it on average 10 years earlier than Whites and are about 10 times more likely to go blind from it.

The disease, which has not received the attention and publicity of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, has taken the vision of some 120,000 people now living in the United States.

One of the major problems is that many people think glaucoma automatically leads to blindness. Although it is true that there is no cure and that vision impaired by the disease cannot be restored, the progression of the disease, if caught early and properly treated, can usually be halted and sight preserved for a lifetime. The New York-based Glaucoma Foundation, which is leading a national campaign for a greater understanding of the disease, says 90 percent of the people who are blind as a result of glaucoma lost their sight needlessly.

Dr. Kevin C. Greenidge, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn and a board member of the Glaucoma Foundation, says that there have been many advances in recent years in treating the disease. "We're finding that glaucoma may be a different disease in people of African descent requiring more aggressive therapies" he says. "Our main aim is to lower the pressure buildup within the eye to slow progression of the disease and save sight."

Anyone, at any age, can develop glaucoma. Infants can be born with the disease, and it can develop in small children. The Glaucoma Foundation says 6 percent of the population over 65 has glaucoma. The more significant risk factors a person has the greater the likelihood that the disease will set in at an earlier age.

Dr. Greenidge says "diabetes is a risk factor, and hypertension is a risk factor, and being African-American is a risk factor--and if you have those three--there is a significant chance that you may develop glaucoma and you need to be checked on a regular basis. And if you add to that a family history of glaucoma, you probably have a 50-50 chance of getting glaucoma, if not greater."

# posted by Medical Information : 3:44 AM