The risk factors of keratoconus include:
- vigorous rubbing of eyes
- familial history
- genetic predisposition
- Down’s syndrome
- eye allergy and general weakness of connective tissue, but also long-time wearing hard contact lenses.
In majority of cases the disease is hereditary (autosomal dominant hereditary disease, i.e. that 50% of the descendants have the risk of inheriting the disease). The disease affects both men and women with equal frequency, and in 90% of the cases disease process is bilateral.