Published on Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Lattitude and Gender Influences Glaucoma Risk

Lattitude and Gender Influences Glaucoma Risk

An American study recently published in Ophthalmology shows that the risk of developing exfoliation glaucoma is greater in the North than in the South.

Almost all patients with exfoliation glaucoma have a mutated version of the LOXL1 gene. However, the environment also seems to play an important role in the development of the disease. The American study involved 120,000 Americans, whose place of residence was analyzed over a 20-year period. The results showed that those who had lived all their lives in central and southern parts of the United States had, respectively, 47% and 75% less chance of developing the disease than those who lived in the northern part of the country.

The researchers also discovered that women are more susceptible than men to developing this type of glaucoma. In addition, they determined that this disease is not of Norwegian descent, as it has long been believed, particularly due to the prevalence of the disease among northern Europeans.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239824.php

 

InfoClip

Do you like this story?

Tweet
Back