SAN FRANCISCO—Imagine slowly losing your vision and not being aware of it until it was too late. That is what happens when you have glaucoma, an eye disease that can cause progressive loss of vision and ultimately blindness. March 6, 2008 marks the first ever World Glaucoma Day, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology reminds the public that knowing your risks for glaucoma can help save your sight.
“World Glaucoma Day is an opportunity to pay heed to the terrible impact of glaucoma, which is the second most common cause of preventable blindness worldwide,” said H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, executive vice president of the Academy. “Understanding the risk factors for glaucoma is an important step in ensuring that the disease is detected and treated.”
“The only way to detect glaucoma before it causes blindness is through eye examinations,” says Anne Coleman, MD, clinical correspondent for the Academy and Professor of Ophthalmology in the Jules Stein Eye Institute of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Fifty to 75 percent of Americans with glaucoma and vision loss are unaware that they have the disease, but if detected early, vision loss can be prevented.”
World Glaucoma Day, a joint initiative of the World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Association, was developed in response to the concern about the worldwide increase in the number of people with glaucoma. By the year 2020, 80 million people worldwide are expected to have glaucoma, and 11 million of these people will be blind in both eyes.
Among Americans, higher risk groups include those of African or Hispanic heritage and others with a family history of the illness. Elderly individuals with African ancestry are five times more likely to develop glaucoma and 14 to 17 times more likely to become blind than similar aged individuals with European ancestry. The risk for Hispanic Americans rises markedly after age 60. Those of any ethnicity who have a family history of the illness are four to nine times more susceptible. Other glaucoma risk factors include aging, nearsightedness, previous eye injuries, steroid use, and health conditions including cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and migraine headache.
For individuals with symptoms of or at risk for eye diseases like glaucoma, the Academy recommends that they see their ophthalmologist to determine how frequently their eyes should be examined. The Academy recommends that those with no symptoms or risk factors for eye disease get a baseline screening at age 40 when the signs of disease and change in vision may start to occur.
EyeCare America, a public service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, offers a Glaucoma EyeCare Program to promote early detection and treatment of glaucoma. The program provides glaucoma educational materials and facilitates access to free glaucoma eye exams for qualified, uninsured patients. People may call the toll-free help line at 1-800-391-EYES (3937) for themselves and/or family members, to see if they qualify for a free glaucoma eye exam or to request free eye care information. Help lines are open 24 hours a day, every day, year-round. More information on EyeCare America can be found at www.eyecareamerica.org
About Glaucoma
Glaucoma damages the optic nerve, the part of the eye that carries the images we see to the brain. As glaucoma worsens, cells die in the retina---a special, light-sensitive area of the eye--- reducing the optic nerve’s ability to relay visual information to the brain. In the most common form of the disease, open-angle glaucoma, peripheral vision usually narrows, then other blank spots occur in the visual field. Symptoms of the less common but more acutely dangerous form of the disease, closed-angle glaucoma, include blurred vision, severe eye pain and headache, rainbow-colored halos around lights, and nausea and vomiting. Anyone with these symptoms needs to be seen by an Eye M.D. right away.
More information on glaucoma and how to preserve vision, as well as how to access care, is available on the Academy-sponsored web site www.geteyesmart.org. Additional information about World Glaucoma Day is available at www.wgday.net.
Broadcast eds: Glaucoma B-roll footage is available from the Academy. Please contact the Academy’s media relations department for download information.
About the American Academy of Ophthalmology
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons—Eye M.D.s—with more than 27,000 members worldwide. Eye health care is provided by the three “O’s” – opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. It is the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all: eye diseases and injuries, and perform eye surgery. To find an Eye M.D. in your area, visit the Academy's Web site at www.aao.org.
