After looking into different forms of Optic Neuropathy, I now know that some of them are hereditary and sometimes they just strike at random. So how does one tell whether a particular case of Optic Neuropathy is hereditary? I am looking forward to hearing all about it and want to thank you for any replies in advance!
The first thing that comes to mind is asking the patient whether optic neuropathy has been diagnosed in their family already? If so, then genetic factors are obviously at play. I am no doctor, but at an eye exam, the optician determined that I am at an increased risk of developing glaucoma, and that he wanted to keep an eye on this. One of the first questions he posed was, unsurprisingly, if anyone else in my immediate family also has this disease. In my family that is not the case as far as I am aware, so if I do develop glaucoma, it would be non hereditary.