deCODE Glaucoma™
The medical term “Glaucoma” refers to a group of eye diseases affecting the major nerve of vision, called the optic nerve. The optic nerve receives light from the retina and transmits impulses to the brain perceived as vision. The symptoms of glaucoma present as a result of a particular pattern of progressive damage to the optic nerve that generally begins with a subtle loss of side vision (peripheral vision). If glaucoma is not diagnosed and treated, it can progress to loss of central vision and blindness.
Common diseases such as glaucoma occur at the interface of genes and the environment, as both inherited as well as other health risk factors play important roles in the disease process. As a result, it is important to understand what carrying an inherited risk variant for a common disease means, and how that information can help to keep a predisposition to a given condition from ever developing into a disease. deCODE Glaucoma™ is a reference laboratory DNA test for assessing an inherited risk factor for exfoliation glaucoma. The deCODE Glaucoma™ test detects versions of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism) – single letter variations in the sequence of the genome – in a specific gene that deCODE has linked to increased risk of one of the more common types of glaucoma, exfoliation type glaucoma.
deCODE Glaucoma™ is performed in deCODE’s CLIA-registered laboratory. The test can only be ordered by qualified physicians and medical practitioners. If you are an individual interested in deCODE Glaucoma™, you can continue reviewing this site, even download and print the test order forms and meet with your doctor to discuss the next steps.