My mum has glaucoma, am I likely to get the disease?

Well my mum has glaucoma and im getting worried I might have it too as I already wear glasses and my right eye is worser than my left and she has glaucoma in her right eye. I went to the opticians and did a test where you press the button when you see a red light but that was last year. Am I likely to get it? What are the symptoms?

Glaucoma is the name for a group of eye conditions in which the optic nerve is damaged at the point where it leaves the eye. Internal pressure in your eye, called intraocular pressure, allows your eye to hold its shape and function properly. Intraocular pressure is like air in a balloon 鈥?too much pressure inside the balloon affects its shape and may even cause it to pop. In the case of your eye, too much pressure can damage fluid nourishes the lens and the cornea and also removes unwanted debristhe optic nerve. Fluids inside your eye help maintain the intraocular pressure. These fluids are the vitreous, which fills the vitreous cavity at the back of your eye, and the aqueous humor, which fills the anterior chamber at the front of your eye. Aqueous humor is continuously produced and circulated through the anterior chamber before draining out of your eye. This continuous flow of aqueous humor exits your eye through a drainage system located at the angle formed where the iris and the cornea meet. Here it passes through a sieve-like system of spongy tissue called the trabecular meshwork and drains into a channel called Schlemm's canal. The fluid then merges into your bloodstream. When the drainage system doesn't function properly 鈥?for example, if the trabecular meshwork becomes clogged 鈥?the aqueous humor can't filter out of the eye at its normal rate, and pressure builds within your eye. For reasons that doctors don't completely understand, increased eye pressure is often associated with gradual damage to the nerve fibers that make up the optic nerve. Some experts believe that people with low-tension glaucoma may have an abnormally sensitive optic nerve or a reduced blood supply to the optic nerve caused by a condition such as atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries caused by accumulation of fatty deposits (plaques) and other substances. Under these circumstances even normal pressure on the optic nerve seems to be enough to cause damage. Doctors don't completely understand the underlying causes of glaucoma. Although glaucoma is normally associated with increased eye pressure, people with normal or low eye pressure can experience vision loss. And people with higher than normal eye pressure may never experience optic nerve damage. It has not been proved that the condition is hereditary, but people with a family history of diabetes or glaucoma are advised to have regular checks to determine that there is no cause for treatment.
Hope this helps
Matador 89

http://www.oheyecare.com/glaucoma.html

Open angle glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. Glaucoma is an eye condition where the Intraocular Pressure (IOP) becomes elevated and may affect the optic nerve. If this intraocular pressure remains uncontrolled, blindness may develop.

What are the different types of Glaucoma?

There are two main types of glaucoma: 1) Primary "open-angle"
glaucoma and 2) Primary "closed (narrow) angle" glaucoma.

Open angle glaucoma The majority (90%) of the people with glaucoma have the "open-angle" condition. In this type, the drainage channel is open, but the fluid does not freely flow because the meshwork is restricted.

Primary "closed angle" glaucoma occurs when the drainage channel suddenly becomes closed. This results in high eye pressure and severe eye pain develops. Immediate medical and surgical care is necessary.
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What are the symptoms of Glaucoma?

For open-angle glaucoma, there are usually no symptoms until the vision is severely affected. By this time, vision is permanently lost and cannot be regained. Because of this, it is important that patients have regular appointments to check the pressure in their eyes.

Closed angle glaucoma does have symptoms associated with the very high intraocular pressure. These include, but are not limited to, blurred vision, severe headaches, eye pain, nausea, vomiting, and haloes around lights.

Who gets Glaucoma?

Glaucoma cannot be prevented, but there are risk factors that can
increase the likelihood of developing glaucoma. Risk Factors include 1) Age (older than 40 years), 2) Race (predominance in blacks greater than in white populations), 3) Diabetes, 4) High blood pressure, 5) Nearsightedness, 6) Long-term steroid treatment (oral, eyedrops, injections and nasal sprays), 7) Previous ocular surgery or trauma and 8) Family history. Because glaucoma can be hereditary, any family members of someone with glaucoma should have regular comprehensive eye examinations, especially over the age of forty.

What Glaucoma Testing is Necessary?

Years ago, glaucoma was primarily diagnosed and treated by following the intraocular pressure. Measurement of the intraocular pressure is no longer sufficient to diagnose or follow this condition. Inspection of the optic nerve, (PICTURE) gonioscopy and visual field testing are mandatory components of this diagnosis as well as management. The most recent technology to be
developed for the diagnosis and the follow-up for glaucoma is Nerve Fiber Analysis (GDX). This new laser instrument (GDX) photographs, measures, and documents the optic nerve and Inparticular, measures the nerve fiber layer which is affected early in the glaucoma destructive process.

Glaucoma Treatment


Glaucoma can be controlled by
1) Topical Medications
2) Oral Medications
3) Laser Treatment
4) Incisional Surgery (trabeculectomy, aqueous shunting devices, cyclo destructive procedures)
http://www.oheyecare.com/TreatmentImages...

You may be perdispositioned for it but the best thing you can do is to watch your blood sugar, have your eye ocular pressure taken regularly, and watch for any warning signs like excessive eye floaters, flashes, etc. If you notice eye problems, deal with them immediately. Basically, good diet, low sugar and low in saturated fat... and DO NOT smoke. Smoking it the one of the worst things you can do.

It is a disease of aging and not hereditary. Just see the eye doctor regularly. No symptoms may occur.