Often called the ‘silent thief of vision’, glaucoma occurs because it slowly damages the eyes without causing pain or providing early warning signs.
It damages the optic nerve, the part of your eye that sends information from whatever you see to the brain. If glaucoma is not treated, it can slowly lead to blindness.
Most commonly, glaucoma is caused by high pressure in the eye, but there is also a rare form called normal tension glaucoma.
In this type, the pressure in the eye is normal, but the optic nerve is still damaged.
Now we’ll discuss a serious health problem: Alzheimer’s disease, which affects the brain and causes memory loss, confusion and behavioral changes. As it gets worse, people with Alzheimer’s disease may even forget how to do everyday tasks.
These two diseases – glaucoma and Alzheimer’s disease – may seem very different because one affects the eyes and the other affects the brain. But a group of scientists in Taiwan have investigated whether they might be connected.
In a large study, researchers looked at the health records of more than 15,000 people with normal-tension glaucoma and compared these people with more than 61,000 people who did not have glaucoma.
Their health was monitored for twelve years.
The results were surprising because people with normal-tension glaucoma had a 52% higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease than people without glaucoma.
The risk was especially high in people who had previously had a stroke or in older women. Even people who took medications for their glaucoma were still more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Yu-Yen Chen, who led the study, said people with normal-tension glaucoma should also be monitored for signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
If they detect the disease early, they can get the care and support they need sooner.
