World glaucoma week

This week is World Glaucoma Week (12th – 18th March) and this year again it’s all about knowing your close relatives eye history. Someone with a close family member who has glaucoma is 10 times more likely to get glaucoma themselves.

Glaucoma is an eye condition where the optic nerve, which connects your eye to your brain, becomes damaged. It can lead to loss of vision if not detected and treated early on. It usually occurs when the fluid in the eye cannot drain properly, which increases the pressure inside the eye and puts pressure on the optic nerve.

Glaucoma is a common condition, but many people won’t realise they have it because it doesn’t always cause symptoms in the early stages. It can affect people of all ages, including babies and young children, but is most common in adults in their 70s and 80s.

Glaucoma doesn’t usually have any symptoms to begin with and is often only picked up during a routine eye examination. Many people don’t realise they have it because it develops slowly over many years and tends to cause a loss of peripheral vision (the edge of your vision) at first.

Both eyes are usually affected, although it may be worse in one eye. Without treatment, it can eventually lead to blindness.

The good news is that there is treatment available for Glaucoma and although it is not possible to reverse any loss of vision that occurred before glaucoma was diagnosed, the treatment can help stop your vision getting any worse.

In summary, the earlier Glaucoma is diagnosed, the better. And that’s where we can help with our fantastic state-of-art OCT (Optical Coherence Tomographer) 3D eye scan, which can help to detect glaucoma and other eye problems much earlier than a conventional eye examination.

So, if you know of a close relative who has been diagnosed with Glaucoma, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch and let us check out your eyes too. Call us on 01227 760501 or use the form below to book your eye examination now.