Proteins that develop when individuals suffer from glaucoma may help improve diagnosing this illness, according to a study presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting.

The second leading cause of blindness in the world, glaucoma is a condition in which pressure in the eyeballs rises due to increased amounts of fluid. This disorder can cause problems with the optic nerve and eventually can kill the nerve, resulting in blindness.

A team of researchers observed tissue in the eyes in patients with and without glaucoma. The team then treated some of the tissue with cytokine, a protein that is found commonly high in glaucoma patients.

The results of the study showed that the nutrient created unique patterns that may help prevent blindness not found in traditional therapies or treatments.

“Next steps include identifying additional proteins expressed in glaucoma, determining the impact of the unique protein profile on [parts affected by the disease] and [the] normal role inside the eye,” said Kathryn Bollinger, a clinician-scientist from the Medical College of Georiga.

More than 4 million people in the U.S. have glaucoma, which represents between 9 to 12 percent of all blindness cases, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation.