Glaucoma Week 2020 (8-14th March 2020)

Next week is World Glaucoma Week. You might ask why even talk about Glaucoma?

Because, in most cases there are no symptoms in the early stages of glaucoma so you won’t know if you have it. Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve of the eye. As the condition progresses the optic nerve is damaged and this results in a slow progressive loss of your peripheral vision. If left untreated it can lead to blindness. That is why worldwide glaucoma is the leading cause of irriversible blindness. We can treat glaucoma and stop it from progressing but we can’t reverse the damage.

Treatment options vary but in most cases a simple drop each day is all that it is need to keep it under control. Glaucoma can be easily detected during a routine eye examination that is why Glaucoma Australia recommends that everyone over the age of 50 has a routine eye examiantion every 2 years.

• It is estimated that 300,000 Australians have glaucoma and up to 50% don’t know they have it.
• Glaucoma can be hereditary. you are 10X more likely to have glaucoma if a direct family member has it.
• While glaucoma is often associated with increased pressure in the eye, you can have normal pressures and still develop glaucoma.