• Question: Can anyone get glaucoma? And What is it

    Asked by to Andrew, Emma, Michael, Nancy on 25 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Michael Kelly

      Michael Kelly answered on 25 Jun 2014:

      Glaucoma is a family of eye diseases that all a common feature, the fluid in the eye is at a higher pressure than is healthy. The commonest type is found in people over forty and has a strong inherited element. There is a glaucoma that children can get but it is either congenital, so present at birth, or secondary to another disease of the eye.
      For a child it doesn’t sneak up on them like it does in adults.

    • Photo: Emma Reid

      Emma Reid answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      Hi there!
      Michael is right, glaucoma mainly affects older people and it is the second most common cause of blindness after cataracts. The problem with glaucoma is that the disease is often far advanced before the person has any symptoms and because of this it is sometimes called “the silent thief of sight.”
      Emma 🙂

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