Eye health resource
Is Glaucoma Hereditary?
Family history can increase your risk of glaucoma, but it does not mean you will definitely develop the disease. Learn how genetics, eye pressure, age, and other factors affect risk.
Reviewed for accuracy by Justin Bazan, OD on .
Glaucoma can run in families, and having a family history of glaucoma increases your risk—but it does not mean you will definitely develop the disease. Genetics are one part of glaucoma risk along with age, eye pressure, ancestry, eye anatomy, steroid exposure, previous eye injury, and other medical or ocular factors.
What Is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve. The most common forms often develop slowly and may cause no noticeable symptoms until permanent vision loss has already occurred.
High intraocular pressure (IOP) is an important glaucoma risk factor, but it is not the whole definition of glaucoma. Some people with high eye pressure never develop glaucoma, while other people develop glaucoma even when measured eye pressure is within a statistically normal range.
How Much Does Family History Matter?
A family history—especially in a close relative—is a recognized reason to take glaucoma screening seriously. It tells your eye doctor that your baseline risk may be higher, but family history alone cannot determine whether you have glaucoma.
If glaucoma runs in your family, tell your eye doctor which relatives were affected if you know. That information can help guide how closely your optic nerves, eye pressure, and other risk factors should be followed.
Other Glaucoma Risk Factors
Risk varies by glaucoma type and by the individual. Factors that may be relevant include:
- Increasing age
- Family history of glaucoma
- Higher eye pressure
- Certain ancestry/background groups with higher population risk
- High myopia in some forms of glaucoma
- Long-term corticosteroid exposure
- Previous eye injury or surgery
- Corneal thickness and other eye-anatomy factors
Your risk profile is more useful than any single item on this list.
Can Glaucoma Happen with Normal Eye Pressure?
Yes. Normal-tension glaucoma causes characteristic optic-nerve damage even though measured eye pressure is not unusually high. This is one reason a pressure check alone cannot rule glaucoma in or out.
A glaucoma evaluation may involve examination of the optic nerve, eye-pressure measurement, OCT imaging, visual-field testing, corneal measurements, angle assessment, family history, and other findings depending on the patient.
What Symptoms Does Glaucoma Cause?
The common open-angle form usually does not produce obvious early symptoms. Peripheral vision can be lost gradually enough that a person may not notice the change at first.
Acute angle-closure glaucoma is different and can be an emergency. Severe eye pain or headache with a red eye, blurry vision or halos, nausea/vomiting, or a sudden major vision change requires urgent emergency evaluation rather than waiting for a routine appointment.
See our urgent and emergency eye guidance if you are dealing with a time-sensitive eye problem.
Can Glaucoma Be Treated?
Vision already lost from glaucoma generally cannot be restored, but treatment can often slow or prevent additional damage. Depending on the type and severity, treatment may include prescription eye drops, laser procedures, or surgery.
Park Slope Eye evaluates and monitors eye health within the practice’s scope and refers to or co-manages with ophthalmology when specialty treatment is appropriate. We do not imply that every glaucoma treatment is performed in our office.
If Glaucoma Runs in Your Family
Do not wait for symptoms to decide whether your eyes should be checked. A comprehensive eye exam can establish a baseline, and patients with glaucoma risk or suspicious findings may need additional testing or closer follow-up.
Learn more about medical eye care at Park Slope Eye.
Originally published . Substantially updated .