January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month

Hello all! I hope you had a great holiday season and are ready for a great year! I wanted my first blog back to focus on something could affect all of us someday....GLAUCOMA. Have you heard of it? If so, you may have a family member or loved one with it, maybe you heard your eye doctor mention it or maybe you have even been told you are at risk for developing it. If you have no idea what Glaucoma is pay close attention! You need to learn what it is and things you can do to keep your eyes as healthy as possible!

I tell my patients that Glaucoma is a progressive disease that affects the optic nerve in the eye (which connects your brain to your eye--for you anatomy buffs out there). Glaucoma can cause blindness if left untreated. Sounds scary right? Now here is what I always follow up with. With today's technology and treatment methods there really is no reason for anyone to lose vision from Glaucoma if it is caught early enough. There is the key....IF IT IS CAUGHT EARLY ENOUGH. What does this mean? An eyecare professional needs to evaluate your eyes (with a dilated eye exam) to determine if you are at risk for developing this potentially sight threatening disease. So even if you think you see great you still really should have the health of your eyes evaluated to rule out Glaucoma, or the risk of it.

Glaucoma affects more than three million Americans, but over half of them don’t even know that they have it, according to Prevent Blindness America.

Glaucoma begins by attacking peripheral vision, typically causing objects to appear less clearly. At first, it is possible to compensate by squinting or turning the head to focus better. But be careful. These changes may seem minor, but glaucoma can accelerate quickly; causing eyesight to rapidly and irreversibly deteriorate.

Like many diseases, some factors can increase the risk of developing glaucoma, such as age, race or genetics. Glaucoma usually affects one in 200 people by age 50, but as many as one in 10 people by age 80. The risk of developing glaucoma is much higher among African Americans: four to five times higher. In fact, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in African Americans. Not only do African Americans usually develop glaucoma 10 years earlier than Caucasians, they are also six to 15 times more likely to be blinded by the disease.

What is my advice now that you have read this? Take some time out of your busy schedule to go see your optometrist. Your eyesight is a precious gift--value that gift by doing everything you can to preserve it!

Questions? Just ask. Thanks for reading.

Keeping an Eye on You,

Betsy W. Fraser, O.D.