As January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month, this post is intended to review the importance of regular screening for glaucoma. Glaucoma is a class of ocular diseases that damage the optic nerve, which can be a precursor to blindness. If not treated, glaucoma often first causes peripheral vision loss and ultimately ends up causing total blindness. Glaucoma is considered to be the leading reason for avoidable vision loss and statistics show that over sixty million individuals around the world suffer from the disease.

The primary source of glaucoma is considered to be increased pressure in the eye known as intraocular pressure. As pressure around the eye is elevated, this damages the optic nerve which is responsible for delivering messages to the brain. In instances where this system doesn't work properly, eyesight is impaired. At the current time, damage to the optic nerve can't be fixed.

Glaucoma is particularly threatening because distinct from other forms of vision loss, it is asymptomatic until vision is already lost.
It is for this reason that glaucoma has acquired the nickname the "sneak thief of sight." The problem is: how does one diagnose an illness which has no obvious symptoms?

Early diagnosis of the disease is required for successful treatment. Although everyone may be at risk for glaucoma, specific populations are more at risk than others. Risk factors for glaucoma can include adults over 45 years of age, anyone having family members who have had glaucoma, individuals with a predisposition towards diabetes, or other eye conditions such as myopia, hyperopia, eye injuries or high intraocular pressure.

There are many different kinds of glaucoma such as open or close angle glaucomas. As a general rule, both eyes are affected, but the disease can progress more rapidly in one eye than in the other.

To learn more about glaucoma speak to your optometrist. There are a series of diagnostic eye tests used to check damage to the ocular nerves caused by glaucoma. Particularly if you are 45 or older or have one of the other risk factors named above, you should book a routine eye examination at least once a year.

It is unfortunate that most kinds of glaucoma are not preventable. Nevertheless the deterioration of sight may be stopped by early diagnosis and prompt treatment. Don't delay! Contact Elliott Rosengarten O.D. PSC now, for a yearly glaucoma screening.