The early part of the year brings not only cold weather, but also awareness for the “sneak thief of sight,” glaucoma. The devastation that the disease can bring is particularly challenging for African Americans, who, along with Latino and Asian populations, have much greater risks of glaucoma, as well as faster onset of the disease and more rapid progression than European Americans. Glaucoma refers to a group of eye diseases that, in most cases, produce increased pressure within the eye.
The pressure is caused by the backup of fluid in the eye that damages the optic nerve.
“Glaucoma is often called the ‘sneak thief of sight’ because many people with glaucoma don’t know they have it. It causes no pain. It causes no redness, and there are no early warning signs,” Elena Sturman, president and CEO of The Glaucoma Foundation, told the Amsterdam News.
“In most cases with glaucoma, you can lose vision gradually, very slowly, and your brain compensates. So you don’t even notice changes until serious damage is done. That’s why going to an eye doctor is so important, because it could be diagnosed earlier and the progression of glaucoma could be prevented.”
The Glaucoma Foundation indicated numerous risk factors for the disease such as:
- People with diabetes are twice as likely to get glaucoma than people without diabetes.
- Asians are at an increased risk for the less common types of glaucoma: angle-closure glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma.
- People over the age of 40 are at greater risk.
- People with extremely high or low blood pressure, thin corneas, and nearsightedness are at greater risk.
Sturman notes the importance of regular eye exams. She says it’s important to go to your eye care provider, who can check the back of the eye, along with eye pressure.
“For certain groups with risk, we recommend doing it before age 40. If you have a risk factor, if you have somebody in a family with glaucoma, if you have a sibling with glaucoma, if you belong to communities at higher risk, you should definitely start going to an eye doctor regularly before age (40).”
It is important for people to get this care, Sturman says.
“The good news about glaucoma, and it’s sort of a silver lining, (is that if) diagnosed early enough, it can be treated.
“The progression could be slowed down, and you know there are a lot of new treatments,” Sturman continued. “There are eye drops, there are laser procedures, there are incisional procedures, but all of these could slow or prevent vision loss if the disease is found early enough.”
For more information about glaucoma resources, please visit the Glaucoma Foundation at https://glaucoma.org/. Medicare provides annual eye exams for individuals to detect diseases such as glaucoma for those who are 65 years old and older with certain specific criteria. The National Eye Institute has details regarding additional resources: Glaucoma Resources | National Eye Institute.
This article originally appeared here.