Who is at Risk for Primary Open Angle Glaucoma?
Primary open angle glaucoma, or POAG, is a condition in which the intra-ocular pressure is elevated and the eye looks macroscopically normal and causes no complaints to the patient. This is why glaucoma has been termed the “silent blinder”. As people get older, their production of aqueous humor decreases, but so does their ability to drain off the aqueous humor. This imbalance leads to a condition of elevated eye pressure. Unfortunately, the aging delicate tissues inside the eye are probably more susceptible to this elevated pressure and so the risk for glaucoma increase dramatically with age. By some estimates, 2 million people in the United States suffer from glaucoma, and the majority of these patients are older individuals. Research has shown that African-Americans stand a fourfold greater risk for developing glaucoma and some studies suggest that women may be somewhat more susceptible than men. Certainly, it is known that women live approximately 8 years longer than men and one of
