January is Glaucoma Awareness Month

Eye Exams Urged for Prevention

An estimated three million people in the U.S. have open-angle glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness in the United States. To heighten awareness about glaucoma and help reduce vision loss and blindness, ISPB has joined with the National Eye Health Education Program and 31 other eye care organizations in sponsoring Glaucoma Awareness Month in January 2001.

Glaucoma gives no early warning signs of possible loss. eye care professionals urge those at risk to get regular dilated eye examinations to detect this insidious, blinding eye disease.

Thos most at risk are:

• African Americans over age 40;
• Everyone over age 60;
• Persons wiht a family hoistory of glaucoma; and
• People with diabetes.

Anyone in these high risk groups who has not had a dilated eye exam in the past two years should undergo an examination of each eye to detect the presence of glaucoma. Tonometry, a common and painless test to measure intraocular pressure, may also be used to help identify glaucoma problems.

Early treatment can substantially reduce the likelihood of severe vision loss or blindness. An eye with open-angle glaucoma is affected by a chronic rise in fluid pressure inside the eye that may gradually interrupt the normal process of the optic nerve. Open-angle glaucoma treatments include: medications in the form of eye drops or pills which enhance fluid drainage, surgery procedures that allow fluid to leave the eye, or laser surgery which also promotes fluid drainage but may be effective only for a short time and is usually used in conjunction with drops or pills.

Health education is an important element in the prevention of glaucoma. ISPB is participating in the National Eye Health Education program to promote early detection and treatment of glaucoma. According to Jim McKechnie, ISPB Executive Director, "Eye care professionals should take an active role in education people about the importance of getting regular eye exams. Early treatment can help control glaucoma and prevent permanent loss of vision."

The National Eye Health Education Program is coordinated by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.