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(ARA) - Glaucoma is known as
the silent thief of sight because in its early stages, there
is no pain or any other symptoms. It can steal your vision before
you even know you have the disease. In fact, more than 4 million
people have glaucoma, and 2 million of them don't know it. Unfortunately,
there is no cure for glaucoma, and any loss of vision is permanent.
But there are steps you can take to protect yourself against
vision loss from glaucoma.
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Anyone can have glaucoma, but
some people are at higher risk. Anyone over age 60 and African
Americans over age 40 are at higher risk for glaucoma. Glaucoma
is three to four times more likely to occur in African Americans
than in Caucasians. If you have diabetes, or if someone in your
family already has glaucoma, you are also in a higher risk category.
In patients with glaucoma, the
normal fluid pressure inside the eyes slowly rises, causing damage
to the optic nerve and leading to vision loss -- or even blindness.
As the disease progresses, a patient may notice his or her side
vision gradually failing.
- "Glaucoma is found most
often during an eye examination through dilated pupils,"
said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Eye
Institute (NEI), one of the federal government's National Institutes
of Health. According to Sieving, drops are put into the eyes
during the exam to enlarge the pupils and enable the eye care
professional to see more of the inside of the eye to look for
any changes to the optic nerve, a sign of glaucoma.
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"Studies have shown that
the early detection and treatment of glaucoma, before it causes
major vision loss, is the best way to control the disease,"
said Sieving. Treatments for open-angle glaucoma, the most common
form of the disease, include medications, laser surgery, and
conventional surgery. If you are eligible for Medicare and at
higher risk for glaucoma, you can take advantage of a new preventive
benefit that covers a dilated eye examination each year.
NEI is conducting research to
determine the causes of glaucoma and to improve diagnosis and
treatment. The Institute also supports clinical trials of new
drugs and surgical techniques that show promise to treat glaucoma.
For more information, write to
Glaucoma, 2020 Vision Place, Bethesda, MD, 20892-3655, or visit
http://www.nei.nih.gov.
For more information on Medicare's
coverage of dilated eye examinations for glaucoma, call (800)Medicare
(633-4227) or visit http://www.medicare.gov.
For a referral to an eye care
professional, call the American Academy of Ophthalmology at (800)391-3937
or the American Optometric Association at (800)262-3947. |
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