Glaucoma – How much do you know?
by Ngozi Osuagwu, MD | January 29th, 2023
A relative told me that I should go to the doctor to get checked for glaucoma. The relative had been recently diagnosed and was told by their doctor they should tell family members. I immediately scheduled an appointment with my ophthalmologist.
January is Glaucoma Awareness Month – Speed the cure. Spread the word. The Glaucoma Research Foundation states to talk to friends and family about glaucoma. If you have glaucoma, don’t keep it a secret. Let your family know. My relative listened.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that gradually steals sight without warning. The vision loss is caused by damage to the optic nerve. The nerve is responsible for carrying images from the eye to the brain.
Glaucoma facts:
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide but the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States.
Glaucoma has no early symptoms – half of the people with glaucoma do not know they have it.
There is no cure for glaucoma, but if diagnosed, early treatment can often stop it from damaging vision.
Glaucoma can happen to anyone at any age, but some people are at high risk:
The only way to check for glaucoma is to get a comprehensive dilated exam.
It is time to schedule your exam if you cannot remember when you last had a comprehensive eye exam. The eye doctor will review your history and determine how often you need to be seen.
After reading this blog post, please take the following quiz by clicking here to see how much you know about glaucoma.
For more information on glaucoma, you can visit the websites below. These were the websites I used to obtain the information above.
