Glaucoma is the number one cause of preventable irreversible blindness, with 7.7 million people living with moderate or severe distance vision impairment or blindness from glaucoma.
Glaucoma gradually damages your vision while giving you the illusion of wholeness, because it operates in a way that makes you not experience any symptoms till after 40% of your nerve fibres are already irreversibly damaged.
To reduce the sudden destruction of vision caused by glaucoma, The Eye Doctors decided to provide more information on the intricacies of glaucoma through a series of educative videos and free eye examinations.
Dr Chisom Okoye, an Optometrist, explained how glaucoma steals sight. Emphasizing that glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness and it is called a silent thief of sight because people living with the disease don’t necessarily experience any symptoms. It takes away vision by encroaching on the peripheral vision slowly and gradually, the vision gets smaller and smaller until the person has tunnel vision and eventually loses sight.
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Also emphasizing the operations of glaucoma is Dr Funmi Oguntoye, a Consultant Ophthalmologist, she explained that glaucoma affects the optic nerve head which takes information from the eyes to the brain for the brain to interpret it as vision.
She discussed the different types of treatment plans and advised patients to embrace treatment after diagnosis because if nothing is done, the damage will continue. Proper management of glaucoma is key.
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At the final session of the series, the Medical Director of The Eye Doctors, Dr. Abiola Oyeleye, an Ophthalmologist, provided elaborate answers to all the questions that were asked during the 2024 glaucoma week.
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Getting checked would save you from the progressive effect of glaucoma which often impact driving, walking and reading.
Similarly, glaucoma impacts your ability to see at night and adjust to different levels of illuminations. it has serious consequences such as causing motor vehicle accidents and inflecting injuries related to falls.
The good news is blindness is preventable if glaucoma is detected and treated earlier. So, relax and get tested!
Aside from our educative videos, we joined the World Glaucoma Association in uniting for a Glaucoma-Free World by offering free fundoscopy, eye pressure checks, consultation and discounts on investigative tests during the 2024 glaucoma week.
