Despite its status as the leading cause of irreversible blindness, theetiology of glaucoma remains shrouded in mystery. Researchershave identified several genetic risk factors for glaucoma, but environmental contributors remain almost completely unknown. Astudy in Environmental Health Perspectives suggests that longterm lead exposure may be a risk factor for primary open-angleglaucoma (POAG), the most common form of this disease.1This is one of the first times scientists have been able to identifyan environmental risk factor for glaucoma, says lead author SungKyun Park, an environmental health scientist at the University ofMichigan. “There is no cure for glaucoma, which is why prevention is so important,” Park says.
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