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Glaucoma suspects are a very broad group and your ophthalmologist can help advise of your particular risk after looking at your risk factors, examining your eyes, and looking at tests such as your visual field or OCT scans of the optic nerve and retina.
Most of the statistics about developing glaucoma if you are a glaucoma suspect come from overseas.
In one of the major trials underlying glaucoma evidence based management, the Ocular Hypertension Treatment study randomised 1636 patients with an IOP greater than 24 mmHg in one eye and greater than 21mmHg in the other to have either IOP reduction of 20% or nothing. Among those patients who had no treatment, 9.5% went on to develop glaucoma; whilst among those who had treatment, only 4.4% developed glaucoma (Kass et al. 2002; Gordon et al. 2002). This and other studies also helped identify the risk factors which help narrow down which patients are at higher risk of developing glaucoma. You can check your own risk factors on our Glaucoma Australia risk calculator here.
Of the 2417 Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES) patients who had follow-up data, 3.5% (84 people, 104 eyes) developed glaucoma over 10 years despite no signs of glaucoma at baseline (Kawasaki et al. 2013). The BMES was a longitudinal cohort study which followed the eye and general health of 3654 people living in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney over the age of 49, with baseline testing then follow-ups at 5 and 10-years. This group is relatively representative of the general Australian population (Burdon et al. 2015).
Several new studies are helping to identify genetic risks for glaucoma progression. Indeed Glaucoma Australia has recently helped to fund a large study which aims to help find those people most at risk of losing sight from glaucoma. It will use common genetic markers in the form of a Glaucoma Polygenic Risk Score (GPRS) to predict an individual’s likelihood of developing glaucoma.
Glaucoma Australia recently hosted a congenital glaucoma brunch at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Gold Coast and what a memorable day it was!
Australia could face a staggering $4.3 billion economic burden from glaucoma by 2025 unless the Federal Government acts now to improve patient compliance, warns Glaucoma Australia.
Leaving a gift in your Will is a spark of generosity that will continue beyond our lifetime. It allows us to invest in the research that will one day find a cure and continue to support families impacted by glaucoma.