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Study finds elevated risk of glaucoma

ST. LOUIS, July 12 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say measurements taken during eye surgery may explain why African-Americans have a higher risk of glaucoma than Caucasians.

Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis they found oxygen levels in the eyes of African-Americans with glaucoma were significantly higher than in Caucasians with the disease.

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The researchers say they suspect the higher level of oxygen may damage the drainage system in the eye, resulting in elevated pressure that could damage the optic nerve, causing blindness, a university release said Monday.

The study provides the first physiologic evidence of a link between race and risk for glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness among African-Americans.

Glaucoma is about six times more common in African-Americans than in Caucasians, and blindness caused by glaucoma is roughly 16 times more likely in African-Americans, the researchers said.

"Our findings suggest there may be physiologic differences in oxygen metabolism between African-Americans and Caucasians," study author Carla J. Siegfried said. "In our studies, we were not looking specifically at African-Americans, but the racial difference in oxygen levels was significant, and we believe this observation deserves further study."

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