If anyone needs a reason to get screened for glaucoma, they should talk to Hoyt Brewster.
He didn’t notice he was losing his peripheral vision. He was always bumping into things and banging his head.
The slow progression is why most people don’t realize they have the disease. Brewster’s advice: get screened for glaucoma during a regular eye exam. Though his vision is okay, his peripheral vision is hampered. He has to make sure he turns his head to the left or right to see things in the periphery.
World Glaucoma Week, which is March 7-13, aims to make people aware of the need to get screened for glaucoma. The event is a joint global initiative of the World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Association.
Glaucoma, known as the "silent blinding disease" is the second leading cause of blindness behind age-related macular degeneration in developed countries, and can be slowed. Most glaucoma patients do not know they have the condition because symptoms only show late in the disease progress, when a significant part of the vision has been irretrievably lost.
UNMC Ophthalmologist Sushma Rai, M.D., is a big advocate for early screening for glaucoma.
“I see patients with advanced glaucoma. If they had been screened sooner, we could have slowed down the progression of their disease,” said Dr. Rai, UNMC assistant professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. “We can prevent blindness through medication, laser procedure or surgery.”
General recommendations for glaucoma screening is after age 50. But if you have a risk factor such as family history, or are of African American or Latino descent, recommendations are to get screened in the 40s and every two to four years. In addition, if you’re on certain medications that can cause high eye pressure, such as steroids or injuries to the eyes, screening is recommended.
As a result of the increasing population and increasing numbers of the aging population, glaucoma is increasing worldwide, resulting in an increase of people going blind. It is predicted that by the year 2020, 80 million people worldwide will have glaucoma, and 11 million of them will be blind in both eyes.
During screening, physicians check eye pressure and dilate the pupils to examine the optic nerve. There usually are no symptoms of glaucoma until the disease is advanced. That’s why it’s crucial to get screened regularly.
Health insurance may pay for some screenings. Check with your health insurance provider.
To make an appointment to get a glaucoma screening or other visual services, contact UNMC Physicians Eye Specialties on campus, located at 40th & Dewey, at (402) 559-2020, or at the Village Point Medical Center, southwest of the shopping center, 110 N. 175th St., at 596-4600.
As the state’s only academic health science center, UNMC is on the leading edge of health care. Breakthroughs are possible because hard-working researchers, educators and clinicians are resolved to work together to fuel discovery. In 2009, UNMC’s extramural research support topped $100 million for the first time, resulting in the creation of 3,600 jobs in Nebraska. UNMC’s academic excellence is shown through its award-winning programs, and its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through its commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading health care centers. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 550 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.
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