January is Glaucoma Awareness Month--have you had your eyes check lately?

“I don’t need an eye exam. I can see perfectly fine, I have 20/20 vision”. Sure that’s the attitude most people take but according to the World Health Organization Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world and it presents virtually no symptoms! Glaucoma is actually a group of eye diseases that gradually steals your sight without warning. Damage to the optic nerve, which acts like an electric cable with over a million wires communicating between your eye and brain, causes the vision lost.

The group, Prevent Blindness America, found that there are more than 4 million Americans who have glaucoma but only HALF know it! Most people associate glaucoma with something that happens as we age, but that’s not entirely true. Babies can be born with it, people of every age can be affected by it and African-Americans are particularly susceptible at developing it at a younger age. Of course, there are those in high-risk groups such as people over 60, diabetics, people who are severely nearsighted and those who have family members who have been diagnosed.

The most common type, open angle glaucoma, starts with the loss of your peripheral or side vision but in most cases people unconsciously compensate for this loss by turning their head to the side and won’t notice anything until they experience significant vision loss.  There is no cure for glaucoma (yet) and once your vision is gone it can not be restored, however if detected early there are treatments which can help preserve your sight.

Diagnosis is the first step to preserving your vision and the only way to know for sure if you have glaucoma is to get tested, at least annually even if you think you have perfect vision. The dilated eye exam is the best and most effective way to detect glaucoma.  Since glaucoma is a chronic condition it must be monitored for life. Although there's no cure (yet) with early treatment, medication and/or surgery you may be able to halt further progression and save your sight. However, going untreated glaucoma may lead to blindness.
 
January is National Glaucoma Awareness month so take this opportunity to schedule your eye exam, especially if you fall into one of the high-risk categories. Even if you’re like me and eat your carrots and fish there’s nothing wrong with getting your eyes check once a year: better safe than blind! At Interim HealthCare it is our hope that until they find a cure for glaucoma more people will take action and get their eyes checked so they’ll be able to save their sight before it’s too late. Being diagnosed with glaucoma shouldn’t prevent you form enjoying your life or reading our blog! So, get out there, take action and schedule an eye exam today!