Above 40? Get your eyes checked for glaucoma

Try going around with a blindfold for at least an hour. Then, you will better appreciate the cliche that the eye is the window to the soul.

The eye is the tiniest organ in the body but one of the mightiest in terms of value. That it plays a major role in one’s ability to read, learn and understand is an understatement.

Experts say that 60 per cent of our emotions and our thoughts and actions are informed by what we see. The dynamics of how the eye makes our lives beautiful and colourful is are expansive. So, one must do the very best to ensure that no harm comes to it. But this is usually not the case.

According to experts, eye problems are among the major four health challenges that are often detected or treated late in the country.

They say the population of people suffering from eye diseases, such as glaucoma and cataract, is on the rise and add that this may drastically increase the population of the blind in the next decade.

Consultant opthamologist with the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Illishan-Remo, Ogun State, Dr. Omodele Jagun, says glaucoma is a silent and leading cause of blindness.

Jagun warns that the condition also has no symptoms until the eyes have been damaged.

Experts now say that glaucoma is not just an eye disease but also a degenerative nerve disorder which affects one’s quality of life.

“Glaucoma is a condition that leads to the loss of vision. It occurs when the optic nerve, which we use to see and that is also connected to the brain, gets damaged. It is a progressive disease as it starts little by little. In Yoruba, people call it “ adakefoju”, meaning that it does not give signs before you have it.

“By the time the individual knows that there is something wrong with the eye, 70 per cent of the damage has been done to the eye. The person technically has 30 per cent of his/her vision left.”

She notes that even at this stage, treatment or cure may be impossible and unaffordable for many.

The good news is that this eye condition can actually be detected early when one is screened, but the backdrop to this, Jagun says, is ignorance and poor health monitoring behaviour of many, especially when it comes it vision challenges.

She observes that the majority of people who have challenges with their vision often delay seeking treatment for it and would rather practise self medication or go to unqualified persons for treatment.

“When you have an eye problem, you go to the hospital to see an ophthalmologist, not an optician. They are only meant to sell glasses recommended by an expert, not to treat eye problems. What we notice is that many will just go to the chemist to buy eye drops or go to an optician to get glasses, but by the time they continue to change the glasses and the condition does not get better, that is when they see a specialist.

“The eye would have deteriorated and it’s too late for us to intervene. Blindness does not happen overnight, eye diseases do not manifest overnight. They can be caught early when you do the right thing.” Jagun states.

Glaucoma can only be detected through screening and medical checkups, say the experts. To prevent being caught unawares, Jagun recommends that one must go for eye test at least once every year.

“Even if you have never had any problem with your eye or vision, once you are 40, you go for an eye test every year. If you have a family history of glaucoma, that is, if your uncle or aunt has had it, you should get screened every six months till your doctor says otherwise. If you have been told by a doctor that you could have it, then you should see a specialist urgently.”

The disease is also common among blacks. According to statistics by the International Eye Foundation, people of African or African-American descent are three to four times more likely to develop the disease compared to American whites.

The IEF adds that females are three times as likely to develop glaucoma as males.

Taking care of your eye goes beyond avoiding physical injury to it or applying liner or eye shadow to make you look beautiful on the outside, getting your eyes checked as advised by the experts and going early to a doctor when there is a problem is what needs to be done to take care of it.

PUNCH.