Saturday, July 30, 2011

The New Study "may Explain The Risk Of Glaucoma"

The New Study "may Explain The Risk Of Glaucoma"
Glaucoma is the leading cause of visual impairment in the world, affecting millions of people around the world, but is more common among certain ethnic groups.
For years, experts have tried to determine why African Americans have a higher risk of developing glaucoma than Caucasians, but it seems that experts from the United States may have finally found why this happens.

Specialists in the School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis say that oxygen levels were significantly higher in the eyes of glaucoma patients African Americans than Caucasians have the condition.
Published in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, they theorize that more oxygen can lead to damage of the drainage system eye to eye, when the pressure increase, which in turn damages the optic nerve and blindness.
First author Dr. Carla Siegfried said the report is the first clue about the relationship between race and the risk of glaucoma, which is about six times more common in African Americans than Caucasians, while blindness caused by glaucoma is 16 times more likely.
The expert explained: "Our results suggest that there may be physiological differences in the oxygen metabolism between African Americans and Caucasians.
"In our studies, we were not looking specifically for African Americans, but racial differences in oxygen levels was important, and we believe this observation needs further study."
Siegfried, who is also professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at Washington University, said she is not surprised that oxygen can play a major role in the development of glaucoma, as it could be a source of "free radicals" harmful to cells.
As in the case of eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma is directly related to aging, such as oxidative stress, which is an imbalance of these "free radicals", and antioxidants. "
This, in turn, is related to aging and age of several other diseases such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, she said.
"However, more studies are needed. When we understand the underlying reason for the high oxygen and how it can damage the eye, we are in a better position to develop ways to prevent this disease," says the expert.

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