World Glaucoma Week 2019 (10 – 16 March)
World Glaucoma Week 2019 (10 – 16 March)
Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease which is the leading cause of avoidable blindness worldwide. In Australia alone, over 300,000 people live with glaucoma, with almost half of those affected being unaware they have the condition.
Glaucoma generally develops over several years and often without any obvious symptoms, resulting in people being undiagnosed until the disease reaches its late stages. Unfortunately, once glaucoma reaches an advanced stage, it can cause permanent vision loss and may even lead to blindness.
Who is at risk of developing glaucoma?
Although anyone can develop glaucoma, at any age, there are a number of groups who are at greater risk of the disease. These include:
- People with a family history of glaucoma: 1 in 4 people with an immediate family member diagnosed with glaucoma will develop the disease themselves
- People over the age of 40: 1 in 200 people have glaucoma at age 40
- People who have diabetes: People with diabetes are twice as likely to develop glaucoma as are non-diabetics
- People who are short-sighted (myopic)
- People using long-term steroid medications
While vision loss can’t be restored, early diagnosis and treatment can stop or slow down the progression of the disease. That is why it’s so important to detect the problem as early as possible. The only way to do this is to have regular eye examinations with an eye health professional, however over 8 million Australians are still not having regular eye tests.
If you are concerned about your risk of developing glaucoma or have an immediate family member who has already been diagnosed, you can make an appointment to speak with an experience glaucoma specialist at one of our Melbourne clinics in Heidelberg or Epping by calling (03) 9459 5133 or filling out an appointment request form online