Awareness of Glaucoma Lacking

Of the 60 million people worldwide and 2.2 million in the United States who have glaucoma, approximately half do not know they suffer from the group of diseases, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF). To publicize glaucoma, the GRF created a campaign calling January National Glaucoma Awareness month. During the month, organizations such as GRF and the National Eye Institute (NEI) highlighted research and educational programs, and stressed that vision loss is beest prevented through early detection and treatment. “Glaucoma is one of the most common diseases of the eye,” Rachel Bishop, MD, MPH, who specializes in general ophthalmology and ocular graft-versus-host disease at the NEI, said in a video posted on the organization’s Web site. “And it is one of the ones that patients often have the least chance of recognizing themselves because the damage typically starts in what we call the peripheral vision, the outside areas of vision. Only in advanced disease will the center of vision be affected.” Although glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness, the GRF noted that 120,000 people in the United States are blind from glaucoma. Glaucoma is also the second leading cause of blindness in the world, according to the World Health Organization. Glaucoma, a group of eye diseases, is most common in middle-aged adults and the elderly as well as African Americans and Latinos. The GRF noted that glaucoma is 6 to 8 times more likely to be found in African Americans compared with Caucasians. Other at-risk populations include diabetics, people with severe nearsightedness, and people whose family members have glaucoma. The main types of glaucoma are primary open-angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma, both of which are accompanied by an increase of pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma cannot be cured, but patients can take medications or undergo surgery to prevent further vision loss. Dr. Bishop said clinicians use a variety of approaches in treating glaucoma. The most common first option is eye drops, with Dr. Bishop emphasizing that people should take eye drops on a regular basis rather than just before their follow-up visits to doctors. If eye drops do not help, the next options include the use of lasers or surgical techniques. Paul A. Sieving, MD, PhD, director of NEI, said in a statement that patients who do not receive treatment for glaucoma will have their central vision affected, which could progress to blindness. He also said that vision loss from glaucoma is irreversible. Dr. Sieving highlighted 2 NEI trials that led to advances in the understanding and treatment of glaucoma. In the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study, researchers found that people at high risk of glaucoma who took medicated eye drops showed positive results in delaying or preventing glaucoma. In the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study, researchers concluded that they could choose the best surgical option for patients based on the person’s race or ethnicity. “What people are used to hearing is that if their [eye] pressure is high, they might have glaucoma,” Dr. Bishop said. “Actually, a person can have glaucoma if their pressure is normal, or they could have a healthy eye with their pressure a little bit high. So, without dilating the eye and looking at the nerve itself, they cannot be told whether or not they have glaucoma.”