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Globally 78 million people have glaucoma. That is every one in 200 people aged 40, which rises to one in eight by age 80.
Most people with glaucoma are not aware of it as most glaucoma patients have zero symptoms.
Catch the disease early and you have a great chance of preserving your vision for the years to come.
Ahead of World Glaucoma Week (7-13 March 2021, #glaucomaweek), Australian researchers published the largest genetic study of glaucoma identifying 44 new genetic variants that may lead to new treatment targets.
Ten Australian institutions involving some of the country’s most prominent glaucoma researchers – including Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor Jamie Craig and Flinders University colleagues with the Australian and New Zealand Registry of Advanced Glaucoma (ANZRAG) consortium – were involved in the international effort which analysed genes in more than 34,000 people with glaucoma across multiple ancestries for the first time.