It’s January again – funny how that comes around every 12 months, isn’t it? And with January and a new year, we’re back to Glaucoma Awareness Month.
It seems that one month isn’t enough to help raise awareness for such a devastating disease. Glaucoma, which is really a group of diseases, hits what people seem to fear most – losing their eyesight. Glaucoma is a silent disease, it has no symptoms in its early stages, nothing that can warn you that it’s going to happen to you. This is why awareness is so important, particularly if you fall into a high risk category.
What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness around the world. While it’s more common among seniors, even babies can develop it. According to Glaucoma.org,
Over 3 million Americans, and nearly 70 million people worldwide, have glaucoma. Experts estimate that half of them don’t know they have it. Combined with our aging population, we can see an epidemic of blindness looming if we don’t raise awareness about the importance of regular eye examinations to preserve vision.
The disease isn’t complicated – for some reason, depending on the type of glaucoma, fluid pressure builds up in the eye. As this pressure increases, it presses on the optic nerve, the nerve that connects the retina to the brain and sends images for your brain to interpret into sight.
The most common type of glaucoma is called primary open-angle glaucoma, but there are other less common ones as well:
- Normal Tension Glaucoma
- Angle-Closure Glaucoma
- Acute Glaucoma
- Pigmentary Glaucoma
- Exfoliation Syndrome
- Trauma-Related Glaucoma
- Childhood Glaucoma
Risks
As with many diseases, some people are at higher risk of developing glaucoma than are others. However, if you aren’t in one of the high risk groups, this doesn’t mean you may not develop it.
The high risk groups include:
- African Americans over age 40.
- everyone over age 60, especially Mexican Americans.
- people with a family history of glaucoma.
Other risks include:
- being severely near-sighted, or myopic
- having high pressure level in the eye
- having an enlarged optic nerve
- sustaining eye trauma or injury
- having diabetes
- having had previous eye surgery
- having taken long-term steroids, even for medical purposes
Prevention
The best treatment is – you guessed it – prevention. So, how do you prevent a disease you don’t know you may have? You have regular eye examinations, whether you are at risk or not. Obviously, those who are at risk should have more frequent ones, as recommended by their eye care health professional.
Testing for glaucoma is not painful, uncomfortable, long, or tedious. All it involves is two tests:
Tonometry
The tonometry test measures the inner pressure of the eye. Usually drops are used to numb the eye. Then the doctor or technician will use a special device that measures the eye’s pressure.
Ophthalmoscopy
Ophthalmoscopy is used to examine the inside of the eye, especially the optic nerve. In a darkened room, the doctor will magnify your eye by using an ophthalmoscope (an instrument with a small light on the end). This helps the doctor look at the shape and color of the optic nerve.
If the tests cause suspicion, then more tests will be recommended.
Don’t take chances with your sight. Not when this is a treatable illness.
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Image: Glaucoma.org
Post from: Blisstree