Glaucoma and family history.

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I know I can google, I have but there’s so much info. I am wandering if anyone has any personal experience with strong family history of glaucoma. Did you get it, did you not? Do you have more regular eye tests? I am in my thirties and I’m aware I can get free nhs eye tests over 40 because of family history, from what I’ve seen it’s rare to get it under 40 anyway.

both my mother and grandmother have it, my mother more severely, diagnosed in her forties, although she could have had it before as she never went for regular testing, grandmother diagnosed at a more senior age, she’s had bad sight and regular eye tests all her life so if she had it earlier I’m sure it would have been picked up.

I am 34, female, last eye tests 2 years ago which was fine, I did do the extra testing specsavers, I actually have really good sight so far, I know that glaucoma doesn’t necessarily affect sight or not at first anyway. I don’t know how I have good eye sight, most of family have some severity of sight loss from a young age, my brother being almost blind in one eye since birth. I have younger sisters in their early twenties and they have poor sight in early adulthood.

should I change to yearly tests?

I have advanced glaucoma and so did my dad and one of his sisters. They both had trabeculectomies in one eye. They had another sister who just had ocular hypertension and she managed fine into her nineties on one set of eyedrops.

In my generation, I am the only one who has full-blown glaucoma. But all my siblings and cousins on my dad’s side are being monitored for high eye pressure.

I’m sure if you gave all the information you have put here into Copilot Smart you would get a fuller answer as to your own likelihood of going on to develop glaucoma. It largely affects your peripheral vision, so total blindness is rare. Just to clarify, it is not glaucoma until the optic nerve is damaged, by which time you would have lost some vision. Until this point it is Ocular Hypertension.

For reassurance you could switch to annual sight tests. At most opticians you can book a private eye health check as often as you like (it’s £40 at my opticians). That way you could get your pressures checked. You can also book private visual field tests.

My grandmother had it and my mother has now got it - she had it diagnosed aged about 78.
I have had the free eye test since she was diagnosed, a couple of years back.