Because there are no symptoms in these cases, patients often reach the doctor when the disease is already in an advanced stage. For this reason, specialists recommend routine ophthalmological consultation.
Photo source: Shutterstock
Ophthalmologists say that 50% of glaucoma patients do not know they have the condition. This is because the symptoms are undetectable in the early stages. Furthermore, glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. It progresses slowly and silently, until the total loss of vision.
Specialists sound the alarm and recommend a routine ophthalmological consultation around the age of 45, repeated annually. “It is a condition that, if detected early, we can stop, even if the treatment is for life: drops. It is a simple thing for the patient to understand. If someone in the family has had glaucoma, we must have a check-up”, underlines the university professor. dr. Camelia Bogdănici, head of the Ophthalmology Clinic of the “Sf. Spiridon” from Iasi.
In addition to treatment with eye drops, in more complicated cases of glaucoma, surgery is also required. Doctors also advise parents to pay attention to children, because there is also a form of congenital glaucoma.
“Unfortunately, parents do not go to the ophthalmologist, because there is this idea of waiting until the child is four or five years old, when it is very, very late“, adds the doctor Camelia Bogdănici.
According to doctors, it is difficult to say what is the main cause of glaucoma. It simply appears, you detect it by noticing the increase in intraocular pressure and the decrease in vision, visual acuity. There are, however, a number of risk factors, such as optic neuropathy, but also smoking, an inadequate diet, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. Glaucoma can also occur as a result of other conditions, such as orbital tumors, intraocular tumors, or trauma.
In this context, doctors in Suceava and Iași offer free consultations for the early detection of glaucoma.
