1 in 8 Indians face risk of irreversible blindness

Noida: Every eighth person in India is at risk of developing glaucoma that causes irreversible blindness, a health expert said here on Wednesday. The optic nerve plays a critical role in transmitting visual information from the eye to the brain, and glaucoma refers to a group of eye conditions that can damage this nerve.

"Glaucoma is a significant cause of irreversible blindness in India, and everyone is susceptible to the disease," Reena Choudhry, a doctor at ICARE Eye Hospital said in a statement. "Glaucoma usually causes silent vision loss, with some types being linked to mild eye pain, headaches, and rainbow-coloured circles around lights," Choudhry, COO and Medical Director, HoD, Glaucoma Department at ICARE said.

"Recent statistics by National Health Portal reveal that nearly 40 million individuals, or every eighth person, in India have glaucoma or are at risk of developing it. Among individuals aged 40 and above, approximately 11.2 million suffer from glaucoma, with 1.1 million being visually impaired, including children. "In Asia, glaucoma is projected to affect an additional 27.8 million individuals by 2040, with India and China bearing the brunt of the burden," she said. While glaucoma can occur at any age, it mainly affects people beyond the age of 40 years. People who are high in short-sightedness, diabetics, have a history of eye trauma, a family history of glaucoma, or have been taking corticosteroid medicines for a long time are at a higher risk of developing the condition.

"Early diagnosis of glaucoma can prevent its progression, and routine eye check-ups and mass screenings can facilitate its early detection and prevention. Late-stage diagnosis of the disease is treated with medication and surgery aimed at preventing further damage to vision and the visual field," Choudhry said. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends a comprehensive eye exam every five to 10 years if you are under 40 years old, every two to four years if you are 40 to 54 years old, every one to three years if you are 55 to 64 years old, and every one to two years if you are older than 65 years. By following this guideline, one can increase the chances of early diagnosis and prevention of glaucoma, Choudhry said.

Covid can cause face blindness

Covid-19 can cause difficulty recognising faces and navigational problems, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal Cortex, is the first to report "prosopagnosia," also known as face blindness, following symptoms consistent with Covid. Previously it was known that Covid can cause a range of neurological problems, including the loss of smell and taste, and impairments in attention, memory, speech, and language, known as "brain fog". In the paper, researchers at the Dartmouth College in the US, describe the case study of Annie -- a 28-year-old customer service representative and a part-time portrait artist.

Annie was diagnosed with Covid in March 2020 and suffered a symptom relapse two months later. Shortly after the relapse, she noticed difficulty with face recognition and navigation. "When I first met Annie, she told me that she was unable to recognise the faces of her family," said lead author Marie-Luise Kieseler, a graduate student in the department of psychological and brain sciences and member of the Social Perception Lab at Dartmouth.

Annie now relies on voices to recognise people that she knows. She also experienced navigational deficits after having Covid. The combination of prosopagnosia and navigational deficits that Annie had is something that caught our attention because the two deficits often go hand in hand after somebody either has had brain damage or developmental deficits," said senior author Brad Duchaine, Professor of psychological and brain sciences and principal investigator of the Social Perception Lab at Dartmouth.

"That co-occurrence is probably due to the two abilities depending on neighbouring brain regions in the temporal lobe." To determine if other people have experienced similar problems due to long Covid, the team obtained self-reported data from 54 individuals who had long Covid with symptoms for 12 weeks or more; and 32 persons who had reported that they had fully recovered from Covid-19. "Most respondents with long Covid reported that their cognitive and perceptual abilities had decreased since they had Covid, which was not surprising, but what was really fascinating was how many respondents reported deficits," Kieseler said. "One of the challenges that many respondents reported was a difficulty with visualising family and friends, which is something that we often hear from prosopagnosics," Duchaine. "Our study highlights the sorts of perceptual problems with face recognition and navigation that can be caused by Covid-19 -- it's something that people should be aware of, especially physicians and other healthcare professionals," Duchaine noted.