Slipping Away
“Glaucoma is a thief of sight. Each day it seals from you precious memories, not of what was, but of what is to come.” ~Jeremiah Lim
Today I am going to share a little bit of information about the leading cause of blindness in the United States, glaucoma. Glaucoma is a slow-moving illness that affects about three million people here in the US and affects about sixty million people world-wide. There is currently no known cure for glaucoma and the effects of the damage are irreversible. The sad truth is that many people who suffer from glaucoma may not realize that they are in the early to mid-stage of the disease as it can only be detected by an eye exam…and unless you wear glasses, you may not be too inclined to get an eye exam. My sudden interest in this disease hits a little closer to home as I found out last week at my eye exam that the interocular pressure (IOP) is a little high in my left eye which has caused some small amount of damage…early onset glaucoma. I am glad I found out now versus years from now when the damage could be greater still. Needless to say, I have been doing a little bit of reading as to find out more information about glaucoma and the risk factors of the disease as there is no known trigger or cause for glaucoma.
Here is what we know, the risk factors for glaucoma are over age 40; have family members with glaucoma; are of African or Hispanic heritage (African Americans are six times more likely to develop glaucoma than Caucasians); are of Asian heritage; have high eye pressure; are farsighted or nearsighted; have had an eye injury; have corneas that are thin in the center; or have diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, poor blood circulation or other health problems affecting the whole body. Of the risk factors, I qualify for a few of them, I’m over 40, I am nearsighted, my IOP is higher than normal and I am a diabetic...but as of today, it is only effecting my left eye, for now. This is all good information to know but what is the next step? Since there is no known cure, what damage has happened is there for life but there are treatments that are available to help slow down or arrest the progression of the illness and minimize further damage. There are special medications in the form of eye drops that one can utilize or oral medication in the form of pills that can help mitigate this disease and depending on the type of glaucoma one has, there are different medical procedures that can be performed on the eye to reduce IOP and thus halt the advancement of the illness.
I recommend that if it has been a while since your last eye exam that you go ahead and schedule an eye examination to discover the level of health of your eye sight. If you wear glasses you are more than likely to have an ophthalmologist that you see on a regular bases but if you don’t wear glasses, ask your family doctor and they should be able to recommend who might be available in your area. You get one set of eyes, take care of them…like our quote at the beginning tells us, blindness is a thief that steals our future memories. As always, thanks for reading. I hope everyone has an excellent week moving forward and if you have any follow-up questions about glaucoma, there are several great web sites that provide a wealth of information such as glaucoma.org or nei.nih.gov/health/glaucoma (The National Eye Institute). I hope everyone has a good week moving forward, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together!
Wm Reid
Best Home Care Services
325 N Eastern Ave
Connersville, IN 47331
765-827-9833
wmreid@bhcshealth.com