Glaucoma Prevention

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Glaucoma Prevention

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Question:

Glaucoma runs in my family. What can I do to help prevent it from happening to me?

Answer:

We can not say that avoiding certain diseases or living a certain lifestyle will prevent you from getting glaucoma. The key issue for you will be early detection, rather than prevention.

You have to be sure that the earliest signs of potential trouble will be detected. I would urge you to be vigilant, not just now but as you grow older. Glaucoma is more of a problem as people enter their 40s.

The ability to monitor the effects of pressure on the optic nerve has improved to the point that there are tests that can detect the slightest harmful effect.

Don Bienfang, M.D, is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and the Senior Surgeon in the Department of Surgery and Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology in the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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Last updated:	July 20, 2009

Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.

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