How Does Ethnicity Affect My Risk Of Developing Glaucoma?

Aug. 24, 2009— -- Question: How does ethnicity affect my risk of developing glaucoma?

Answer: Glaucoma's a common cause of preventable blindness in all people. However, it does affect persons of different race and ethnicity differently. Persons of African-American and Latino descent are at particular risk. Overall, glaucoma affects about 2 percent of the U.S. population.

However, that is dependent on age; it is much more common in older folks. For example over the age of 60, glaucoma affects approximately 5 percent of persons of European descent and approximately 10 percent of persons of African descent.