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Monday, September 21, 2009

Gene Variant Linked To Glaucoma Identified

Science Daily "Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among blacks, affecting close to five percent of the population. The researchers chose to conduct the study in the Afro-Caribbean population of Barbados, where the incidence of glaucoma is double that figure – nearly 10 percent of all residents of the island – and where there is a strong genetic predisposition.

Known as 'the silent thief of sight,' glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease that causes the death of ganglion cells of the retina, resulting in gradual and irreversible loss of peripheral vision. Reducing intra-ocular pressure can slow the progression to blindness, but there is no cure or reversal for glaucoma."

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