Regular check-ups can keep glaucoma at bay

PUDUCHERRY: It is important to have regular eye check-ups to detect the dreaded disease glaucoma, which can affect any age group and is irreversible, said Dr Ashok Kumar Das, JIPMER director-in-charge and Medical Superintendent, here on Tuesday.Talking to reporters at the inaugural function of the special screening of glaucoma disease, being organised by the department of ophthalmology, he said glaucoma was an eye disease that caused progressive damage of the optic nerve at the point where it left the eye to carry visual information to the brain.If left untreated, the disease would lead to deteriorating sight and ultimately blindness, he said, and added that the visual damage was mostly irreversible.Dr Das said there may not be any symptoms of the disease until a very late stage, when too much damage has been done to the field of vision.He said that an eye specialist could detect early signs of glaucoma by testing eye pressure, visual field and examining the retina and optic nerve. It was crucial to educate people about the need for early detection because the disease usually struck slowly and silently.Dr Das said people with diabetes, thyroid disease, hypertension, minus eye sight (short sight) were more prone to the disease.He said JIPMER had all the systems to detect the disease and experts for treating it. He added the treatment at JIPMER was free of cost.Dr Subashini Kaliaperumal, assistant professor and a glaucoma specialist, JIPMER, said nearly 60 million people were estimated to be suffering from the disease, which is the second most common cause of blindness world-wide.