Glaucoma Check Every Two Years Is Good Medicine

The American-Statesman printed an article critical of routine medical testing for such conditions as glaucoma in patients under 65 years of age. Several days later a patient came blind in his left eye from glaucoma that had not been diagnosed previously.

His condition is a tragedy that could have been prevented had he been screened for glaucoma years ago. The patient is a prominent attorney, an intelligent and responsible person who would not knowingly neglect his health. But glaucoma is called the "silent sight stealer" and not without reason. You can have it for years without being aware of it. That's what makes it so dangerous. Glaucoma works slowly and painlessly, nibbling away at your side vision until eventually you go blind.

Glaucoma occurs when the water pressure inside the eye builds up too high and compresses the nerve that goes from your eye to our brain. Because the condition develops so gradually, much like hardening of the arteries takes place over years and years, you cannot feel the pressure buildup. Worse, glaucoma does not affect what you see looking straight ahead until late in the course of the disease. Instead, it gradually narrows the side vision until, just before blindness, all you can see is what you would be able to view looking through the barrel of a gun.

The damage is not reversible. With some eye diseases, such as cataracts, we can restore all or partial vision

Glaucoma Precautions

The damage is not reversible. With some eye diseases, such as cataracts, we can restore all or partial vision. But with glaucoma, we can only prevent further damage and preserve existing vision.

What makes glaucoma so tragic is that it is preventable when diagnosed early. The only way to diagnose it is to screen for it, using a simple test that measures the pressure in the eye. The test is painless and takes less than a minute.

The newspaper report questioned the cost effectiveness of routine testing. According to the federal task force that was the subject of the report, doctors should give "good advice" and not "costly tests."

That supposition is particularly misleading where glaucoma testing is concerned because most ophthalmologists do not charge extra for a glaucoma test when an eye examination is performed. In fact, they frequently provide services free in community screenings sponsored by hospitals, the Society to Prevent Blindness and other groups. Moreover, while cost may be an important theoretical consideration, when it comes to matters of health nothing is more cost effective than preventive medicine.

Glaucoma is not a rare disease nor does it strike only the elderly. It is a leading cause of blindness among adults over 35. One out of every seven blind people is a victim of glaucoma, a senseless loss.

Virtually everyone associated with eye care, from doctors to professional groups, recommends a glaucoma check every two years if you're over 45. If your family has a history of glaucoma, you should be checked earlier and more frequently. Glaucoma testing costs virtually nothing and it saves eyesight.