
The year kicks off with Glaucoma Awareness Month and we believe it is quite the important topic to spread awareness about.
A few quick stats:
- More than 3 million people in the US have glaucoma
- The NEI projects this number will reach 4.2 million by 2030
- Glaucoma is called “the silent thief of sight” since there are no symptoms and once vision is lost, it is permanent
- You could lose up to 40% of vision without…even…noticing (frightening, right?)
What is it?
Glaucoma is an eye disease which without warning causes loss of vision. It is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss and blindness in the United States but as many as half of people with glaucoma don’t know they have it. The most common forms of glaucoma affect middle-aged and elderly patients, but glaucoma can affect people of all ages.
The loss of vision is caused by damage to our optic nerve. This nerve acts like a cable which carries images from the eye to the brain. When it is damaged, it cannot be reversed.
There are various types of glaucoma – read here for more: Types Of Glaucoma: Understanding The Four Main Types
Glaucoma has no early symptoms. The only way to check for it is to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam. There’s no cure for glaucoma, but starting treatment as early as possible can help slow the progression of vision loss.
Glaucoma can affect anyone, however, there are people with higher risk which include:
- If you are over age 60
- If you are Black/African American and over age 40
- If you are Asian American
- If you are Hispanic/Latino
- If you have glaucoma in your family
- If you are very near-sighted
Is there a cure?
As of right now, there is no cure for glaucoma. We have medication, laser, and surgery options for treatment which can slow or prevent the loss of more vision. Detecting it early is VITAL to stopping the disease from getting worse.
January Is Glaucoma Awareness Month – Glaucoma Research Foundation
How do we detect it – GET YOUR ANNUAL EYE EXAM!
We cannot stress this enough.
This January, aka Glaucoma Awareness Month, we are joining the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) in encouraging everyone at higher risk for glaucoma to get a dilated eye exam. There is no better way to protect their vision! We have a glaucoma specialist, Dr. Nikitha Reddy, at our practice in Slade & Baker Vision in Houston, Texas who performed one of the first iDose procedures in Texas as we shared in one of our latest blogs.
Give us a call to schedule an eye exam and if you would like to be seen for glaucoma or cataracts, Dr. Reddy would be happy to share all of the options that would best for you.
Call us at 713-626-5544 for an exam or write us at info@visiontexas.com today and get ahead of glaucoma!