Glaucoma UK is a partner of the UK’s biggest health research programme 

We’re delighted to announce that we’re now an affiliate charity of Our Future Health, which aims to be the UK’s biggest health research programme.  

What is Our Future Health? 

You may have heard of Our Future Health, and you may even be participating in it. It’s a research programme which is designed to help everyone live longer and healthier lives. It’s seeking to discover and test more effective approaches to prevention, earlier detection and treatment of diseases. 

They’re hoping to recruit up to five million adult volunteers across the UK. Those volunteers provide health information about themselves, including blood samples, data such as height and weight, and give permission to access their health records. The blood samples provide the researchers with information about the volunteer’s genes. Researchers will be able to use this rich data set to make new discoveries about human health and diseases. For example, identifying people at risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancer and diabetes and then using the information to test possible new diagnostic tests or treatments. 

Why is it relevant to people with glaucoma? 

Glaucoma is largely caused by our genes. The data collected about participants in Our Future Health could be used by glaucoma researchers to better understand which genes cause glaucoma, and who is most at risk of developing the disease. In the future, people who are at increased risk of developing glaucoma could be told about this. This information could be used to support earlier diagnosis, for example through targeted campaigns to encourage them to get their eyes tested, or screening programmes in appropriate communities. The information could also be useful for improving treatments, for example by seeing if there are links between the success of different treatments and someone’s genes. That information could be helpful for people with glaucoma, and their eye specialist, to decide on the best treatment option for them. 

What does affiliate charity mean? 

As an affiliate charity, we’re now a partner of Our Future Health. We’ve agreed that we’ll support one another, for example by sharing expertise and information, and by raising awareness of each other’s research programmes where appropriate. For example, Our Future Health are doing some interesting and exciting work to ensure their volunteers are truly representative of the UK population. We hope to learn from this and their successes to help us reach the people most at risk of glaucoma sight loss.  

Can I take part? 

You can take part in Our Future Health if you’re 18 or over and live in the UK. This includes anyone who has a medical condition or lives with a disability. You may have received something from Our Future Health already, such as a letter or email. Alternatively, you can sign up here. You will need to complete a questionnaire about your health and lifestyle, and then book an appointment at a nearby clinic. During the appointment you’ll provide a blood sample and have some physical measurements taken. Currently, most of the clinics are in England, but they’ve just opened some in Scotland and they’re planning the roll-out across Wales and Northern Ireland. If there’s not a clinic near you quite yet, you can still complete the lifestyle questionnaire, and you will be notified when an appointment near you becomes available.