Blindness possibility caused by glaucoma almost halved

A new study proves that the possibility of blindness caused by glaucoma significantly decreased and almost disappeared entirely since 1980. The results of this study are published in the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, “Ophthalmology”. The researchers believe that diagnosis advances and improved techniques are the causes of this decrease but there are still patients who will become blind from glaucoma. This study was led by a team at the Mayo Clinic who analyzes the long-term changes in the risk of blindness progression. They are trying to identify trends in glaucoma and this is how they hope to gather new tips for the best practice, in order to improve health to distribution. There were 857 cases involved in this study, with OAG (open-angle glaucoma) between 1965 and 2009. The final results prove that blindness incidences from glaucoma decreased with 25.8% in this time frame (1965-2009). “These results are extremely encouraging for both those suffering from glaucoma and the doctors who care for them, and suggest that the improvements in the diagnosis and treatment have played a key role in improving outcomes”, said Arthur J. Sit, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and lead researcher for the study.