13/03/2024
GLAUCOMA WEEK (MARCH 10TH – 16TH 2024)
GLAUCOMA AWARENESS
Have you heard about the silent thief of sight? Just as a thief comes at night to steal without informing the house owner, that’s how glaucoma creeps in and steals one’s sight. To avert this damage, early detection is necessary through regular checkups at any eye clinic.
You may ask, what is Glaucoma? Glaucoma is an eye disease that affects the optic nerve (nerves that send messages to the brain) thereby causing irreversible loss of vision.
Risk factors or causes of Glaucoma.
- Increased eye pressure (Intraocular pressure): this is usually as a result of poor aqueous drainage which causes a build-up of aqueous humor in the eye.
- Diabetes Mellitus.
- Vascular diseases such as systemic hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and migraine.
- Use of off-the-counter drugs.
- - Age: it’s more prevalent in people above 60years of age but individuals less than 60 years can also be affected depending on conditions such as-;
- Refractive error especially myopia which is known as short sightedness.
- Family history of Glaucoma: have you ever bothered asking why a relative of yours is blind? It could be as a result of glaucoma. So regular checkups is important, why not make use of the opportunity presented to you now to get your eye screened.
- Race: Africans and Europeans are most likely to be affected by glaucoma.
Glaucoma causes tunnel vision because it affects the peripheral fields and finally total loss of vision and to avert this, Central Visual Field tests are conducted to map out any form of damage.
Signs and symptoms of Glaucoma
- severe headache
- severe eye pain
- nausea or vomiting
- blurred vision
- halos or colored rings around light
- redness of the eye
- patchy blind spots in your side vision
- in later stage difficulty seeing things in your central vision.
Signs and symptoms of glaucoma in children
- a dull or cloudy eye
- increased blinking
- tears without crying
The above mentioned three (3) are mostly seen in infants
- blurred vision
- myopia (nearsightedness) that gets worse
- headache.
Management of Glaucoma
Glaucoma cannot be treated but can be managed to elongate the period of good vision.
- early detection through regular checkups. People with family history of glaucoma and who are myopic and people of every age should be screened every two years while adults above 40 years of age should be screened annually. Those that have been confirmed as Glaucoma patients should be screened every 6 months.
- use of drugs both eye drops and tablets, but in some cases drugs may not be effective, then
- surgery ( manually or laser) is advisable to open up blocked drainages.
By Dr. Domike Vivian A.
(C&C Ophthalmics Ltd.)
