L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) plans a series of activities to commemorate World Glaucoma Week, from March 11 -17, 2018, to bring public focus on the eye disease that affects both adults and children. A Glaucoma Awareness Walk is being organised on March 11 to create more understanding and knowledge on glaucoma, which is seen as the leading cause of irreversible blindness in India.
Glaucoma is a disorder associated with increase in the eye pressure and is characterized by damage to the optic nerve leading to irreversible blindness. Currently in India, every 8th individual or nearly 40 million has either glaucoma or is at risk of developing the disease. 11.2 million Indians suffer from the disease with 1.1 million blind, including children. Glaucoma more commonly affects people beyond the age of 40 years. High myopes, diabetics and those with a positive family history have higher risk of developing glaucoma. Screening family members of patients with glaucoma is mandatory, as this disease can affect siblings and children of patients with glaucoma in up to 10-20% of cases.
The focus this year is on ‘Childhood and Glaucoma’. Childhood glaucoma affects more than 300,000 children across the world and 2/3 of these children are already blind with ¾ of them living in developing countries. The high prevalence rate of primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) in the developing world is due to higher parental consanguinity in some communities.
Glaucoma can be treated. If it is detected early, the eye specialist can help preserve the remaining vision and prevent the patient from going blind. But even though 80% of blindness from glaucoma is preventable, almost 7 million people worldwide turn blind due to glaucoma, with 2/3rd of them being women. This is because a whopping 90% of glaucoma cases go undetected, presumably due to a lack of awareness. Also, first degree relatives (FDRs) of glaucoma patients have a ten-fold increase in life-long glaucoma risk.
Dr Sirisha Senthil, Head of Glaucoma Service at LVPEI said, “Most people with glaucoma have no early symptoms or pain from this increased pressure, hence it is important to see an eye doctor regularly so that glaucoma can be diagnosed and treated before long-term visual loss occurs.”
Lvpei chalks, screen, early detect glaucoma, eliminate irreversible blindness
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