Glaucoma - The "Silent Thief Of Sight"

Glaucoma has been called the "silent thief of sight" because it slowly steals a small amount of your vision and largely goes unnoticed until it is too late. Vision lost to glaucoma cannot normally be recovered, so treatment is aimed at preventing further loss. Risk factors for developing glaucoma include older age, race, family history, eye trauma and certain medications and health conditions. The only way to be sure you don't have glaucoma is to be checked by your eye doctor. An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor with training in both medical and surgical eye care. He or she is uniquely qualified to diagnose and treat glaucoma.

Glaucoma is an eye disease associated with high intraocular pressure, though some people with glaucoma have normal eye pressure. If left untreated, it can lead to blindness. Just like some people develop high blood pressure and don't know they have it, people can also develop high eye pressure and not have any symptoms. As eye pressure builds, it exerts excessive forces on the nerve fibers in the back of the eye. The most vulnerable nerves are those that are used for peripheral or side vision. That explains why glaucoma is the silent thief of sight. We don't initially notice when we lose this peripheral vision and once it's gone, it can't be recovered. It is sad to meet a patient for the first time and diagnose him or her with vision loss due to glaucoma, knowing that this could have been prevented with early treatment.

Glaucoma is usually treated with eye drops and sometimes laser procedures. If advanced, it can also be treated surgically. Most people, if they visit their ophthalmologist regularly, can be diagnosed early so that treatment can be started early. The patient who never visits the eye doctor is most at risk of losing vision from glaucoma. It is therefore vital for everyone over the age of 40 to have an eye examination every one to two years with an ophthalmologist. You cannot feel, see, or diagnose glaucoma without the help of your eye doctor.

Be sure to have regular checkups with your eye doctor so that you are ready to live well. Living well comprises so much of life. It means living a positive, creative life. A life ready for adventure and challenges. It is not measured by the size of our home or bank account, but by the lives we touch, the impact we have on family and friends and what we accomplish with the talents and resources we have been blessed with.

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