Glaucoma
is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the nerve, which transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of sight" because the loss of vision usually occurs slowly over a long period of time. A major risk factor for glaucoma is increased pressure within the eye, known as pressure (IOP). It is associated with old age, a family history of glaucoma, and certain medical conditions or the use of some medications. The word glaucoma comes from the Ancient Greek word γλαυκός, meaning 'gleaming, blue-green, gray'.
Underlined words are explained — tap any of them.
Symptoms — what it feels like
- ·Vision loss
- ·eye pain
- ·mid- pupil
- ·redness of the eye
- ·
How it's found
- · eye examination
Treatment
- ·Medication, laser,
Who a European-built risk score flags as “high-risk”
The score (PGS000350) was tuned so 10% of Europeanscross the “high-risk” line (the dashed mark). Bars reaching past it are over-flagged; bars well short are under-flagged — either way the ruler is mis-set for that group.
Share above the European top-10% cutoff. The All-India row is computed on GenomeIndia (≈10,000 genomes); the per-subpopulation rows on 1000 Genomes. Analytical mean-shift, not validated against Indian outcomes. See methods.
The sections below are general education drawn from public guidelines (NHS, Mayo, CPIC, WHO, ICMR). They are not individually reviewed by a clinician and are not medical advice — always talk to a doctor about your own health.
When to see a doctor
Glaucoma often has no early symptoms, so a regular eye test is the main way to catch it early, especially after age 40 or with a family history.
See an eye doctor if you notice gradual loss of side vision, blurred patches, or trouble seeing in dim light, or if a close relative has glaucoma.
Get urgent eye care for sudden eye pain, redness, headache, blurred vision, or seeing halos around lights, sometimes with nausea. This can be a sudden rise in eye pressure that needs fast treatment to protect sight.
General guidance, not a diagnosis. When in doubt, see a doctor.
Questions to ask your doctor
- ?Which eye tests confirm this and measure my eye pressure?
- ?Given my family history, how often should I be tested?
- ?Is my vision loss stable, or is it changing?
- ?What symptoms mean I should seek urgent eye care?
- ?Should my close relatives get their eyes checked?
- ?How will you monitor my eyes over time?
What to note before your visit
- ·any changes in side or night vision
- ·family history of glaucoma or blindness
- ·past eye pressure readings if you have them
- ·current eye drops or medicines you use
Test yourself
0/4 answered4 quick questions on Glaucoma. Tap an answer to check it.
A European-trained for flags 20.2% of Sri Lankan Tamil people as high-risk - vs the 10% it was designed for. That's a 2.0x : the score's 'average' is set to European , so it systematically mis-reads South Asians (a +0.53 SD ).
A study that would help: PGS000350 on an Indian (define the threshold on South-Asian, not European, risk) and quantify how many people get correctly . A concrete, fundable validation study once a + Indian sample is in hand.
The second-largest glaucoma burden on Earth — driven by a gene the Western playbook underweights
India has an estimated 12 million people with and around 5 million blind from it — the leading cause of irreversible blindness, and second only to China worldwide. Much of it is undiagnosed until sight is already lost.
The differ from the West. In Indian patients CYP1B1 is a predominant cause — not only of primary but also of adult and juvenile open-angle glaucoma — with recurrent Indian such as E229K and R368H. Western open-angle genetics lean on MYOC, which explains only ~2–4% of Indian cases. A panel built on Western assumptions underweights the very gene that matters most here. (Our -score analysis independently flags a large South-Asian for open-angle glaucoma.)
The major Indian CYP1B1 are described, and early detection prevents blindness. The gap is turning that into cheap, India-tuned — especially for and juvenile , where an early saves a lifetime of sight.
Validate a CYP1B1-first screen for high-risk Indian families ( and juvenile ) and measure how much earlier it catches cases than pressure-and-symptom alone.
- Predominance of CYP1B1 mutations in Indian POAG/JOAG, Mol Vis 2009 ↗
- CYP1B1 Arg368His in North Indian glaucoma, 2019 ↗
- D2I2 PRS-transferability analysis (open-angle glaucoma, PGS000350)