Glaucoma - The Key is Detection

Because there are no warning signs, it's advisable for those over 40 and, even more critically, over 60, to be checked every two to four years for glaucoma. Detection is easy, painless, and if diagnosed and treated early, prevents blindness.

More than 3 million Americans suffer from the disease. It's the leading cause of vision loss, yet half of the people with glaucoma don't know they have it. Everyone is at risk and that risk increases with age. The most-at-risk groups for glaucoma include diabetics, and African-Americans and Asian-Americans.

Dr. Robert M. Feldman, at The University of Texas-Houston Medical School's department of ophthalmology, along with Dr. Ronald Gross at Baylor College of Medicine, Pharmacia and Upjohn, and former Minnesota Twins baseball all-star Kirby Puckett, teamed up last month at Houston City Hall for "Don't Be Blindsided!" They passed along tips on what to look for. These include a sense of elevated pressure inside the eye, and changes to the optic nerve and loss of peripheral vision. Problems such as intraocular pressure (IOP), for instance, arise from the inability of the eye to properly drain the aqueous humor, which is the fluid in the back of the eye.

Various treatments exist. After a positive diagnosis from monitoring the IOP, and a dilated exam of the optic nerve, care normally consists of eye drops, pills, or medications such as pilocarpine, epinephrine, betaxolol, apraclonidine or a beta-blocker such as timolol. A latter option might be laser surgery such as trabeculoplasty, a painless procedure which helps the eye's fluid to drain better. Traditional surgery, called trabeculectomy, done on an outpatient basis or brief hospital stay is one in which the eye's drain, or meshwork is removed, also allowing easier drainage. Bilberry fruit extract has long been used as an alternative medicine in eye conditions, most notably in so-called "night blindness" or a reduced visual capacity in dim light, and also in poor adaptation to bright light.

But the first step is detection. So after the awards ceremony at "Don't Be Blindsighted!" last month, free glaucoma screenings at various sites around Houston were offered throughout the day. If you missed that event and would like to know more, call the toll-free number 1-800-GLAUCOMA (1-800-452-8266), or on the web at http://www.glaucoma-foundation.org. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, at 1-415-561-8500, customer service, also provides guidelines for caring for people who have glaucoma. Another source of information is Prevent Blindness America, website http://www.preventblindness.org.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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