Glaucoma awareness walk held to help detect early signs of disease

Visakhapatnam: A series of activities commenced in the city to commemorate ‘World Glaucoma Week’ to create awareness about eye disease. The weeklong activities that continue till March 14 is held as part of the World Glaucoma Week, a joint global initiative of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) and the World Glaucoma Patients Association (WGPA).

Glaucoma is an eye problem associated with increased eye pressure and is characterised by damage to the optic nerve, leading to irreversible blindness, cautioned ophthalmologists at LVPEI, organising the event.

Most people with glaucoma are not diagnosed until they start turning blind. Glaucoma is a complex condition and refers to a group of conditions that result in optic nerve damage and visual field loss. High intraocular pressure is a risk factor for glaucoma, together with other factors such as ethnicity, family history, high myopia and age.

Global estimates predict that by 2040, the number of patients with glaucoma will rise from 76 million to 111.8 million, with most of them in Africa and Asia. In India, around 12 million people are affected with glaucoma accounting to 12.8 per cent of the cases of irreversible blindness, resulting from late diagnosis.

Highlighting the theme for the year ‘childhood glaucoma and steroid-induced glaucoma’, an awareness walk was held on Sunday at RK Beach. About 250 people participated in the walk.

GlauCOnnect, a focused webinar on childhood glaucoma, was also organised for PG students, fellows and practitioners to improve their capabilities in detecting childhood glaucoma. Enlarged or cloudy eyes, redness of eyes, watering eyes, and photosensitivity are some of the symptoms, the doctors caution against.