A team at UNMC is studying the differences in the types of glaucoma most prevalent in Caucasians versus Asians.
Dr. Carol Toris, Director of Glaucoma Research in the Ophthalmology department at UNMC, says the university has partnered with a university and hospital in China to obtain data.
Dr. Toris says the information collected in China and the United States will be analyzed over the next few months to identify differences that may help explain why certain individuals get specific types of glaucoma.
"What’s going on in their eye that makes them more prone to one kind of glaucoma and Caucasians more prone to a different kind of glaucoma. So the first thing you have to do is figure out what’s normal for these people. So we were discussing this and decided to work with Chinese and find out what’s different about their normal, healthy people from normal, healthy Caucasians."
Dr. Toris says previously everyone was given the same medication for glaucoma but she says since all individuals are not the same, medications need to be tailored better.
She says the study specifically looks at the amount of fluid flow in the eyes.