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The study highlights the challenge of recognizing glaucoma. It reveals that over 5 percent of individuals above 70 years old had glaucoma, with 50 percent of them being unaware of their condition. Glaucoma, a common eye ailment, damages the optic nerve and can lead to vision loss, and in severe cases, even blindness. Lena Havstam Johansson, a PhD candidate at the University of Gothenburg and a specialized nurse at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, conducted the research. Among the 560 participants who underwent eye examinations, 4.8 percent were diagnosed with glaucoma.
Remarkably, 2.7 percent of the participants diagnosed with glaucoma were unaware of their condition prior to the study. This underscores the importance of early detection through such studies. For those newly diagnosed, it meant the opportunity to start treatment with daily eye drops to mitigate optic nerve damage. Interestingly, individuals with glaucoma reported similar levels of physical activity and no significant differences in smoking or alcohol consumption compared to those without the condition. They also rated their overall quality of life similarly, indicating that life can still be fulfilling despite the diagnosis.
However, in terms of vision-related quality of life, those with glaucoma reported a decline. Activities such as climbing stairs, navigating curbs in low light, and peripheral vision were notably more challenging. This could lead to social isolation and a sense of frustration. The study was part of the long-running H70 study on the health of older individuals, conducted at the University of Gothenburg for half a century. It involved 1,203 70-year-olds born in 1944, with 560 of them undergoing detailed eye examinations.
The research also affirms the genetic component of glaucoma, as those diagnosed with the condition were more likely to have close relatives with the same diagnosis. It confirms that higher eye pressure is associated with glaucoma, but interestingly, most newly diagnosed individuals still had normal eye pressure. In the early stages, the healthy eye can compensate for the loss of vision, making it harder to detect the disease. These findings have been published in two articles in the journal Acta Ophthalmologica.
