I often see patients who have put off coming for their annual or bi-annual eye examination as they have not noticed a change in their vision, or are concerned about the cost of new glasses. We forget how a thorough eye examination at Pollards can potentially detect sight threatening eye conditions, and sometimes life threatening conditions. So today, I would like to draw your attention to an eye condition called Glaucoma.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, yet the majority of patients with glaucoma are unaware that they have the disease. It has been predicted that with our ageing population, the number of people in England and Wales suffering from glaucoma will increase by at least a third over the next two decades.
A case study – Pollards Optical Clinic, Wakefield
One of my patients lost the vision in his right eye due to age related macula
degeneration, so he was reliant on his left eye for driving and daily tasks. He had a family history of glaucoma, so he was always montiored for this whenever he came to the practice. I had examined him a year ago, and at that time, there were no signs of glaucoma and his vision was very good. I decided to see him again in 1 years’ time, which is the NHS guidelines for patients with a family history of glaucoma. Unfortunetly, when I saw him yesterday, he had had what he described as a ‘frightening experience’ where he had hit a parked car as he didn’t see it on his left side. On examination, I found a significant part of his visual field in his only good eye was damaged. I have referred him to Clayton hospital for treatment, and we are hoping that some of his field of vision will come back. If it doesn’t, he will not be able to drive and will therefore loose his independance.
This made me realise, yet again, that early detection of glaucoma is vital. If I had seen this gentleman 6 months ago, I would have been able to refer him for treatment sooner and the damage would have been less severe. It made me think about Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), and how it will allow me to detect these cases so much sooner than with our traditional methods of examining the eye. According to recent research, 30% of nerve fibres have to be dead before our traditional methods can detect glaucoma. Yes, that’s THIRTY PERCENT! So before any Optometrist will refer you for glaucoma treatment, 30% of your nerve fibres will already be damaged. With treatment sometimes these improve, but most of the time they don’t.
So next time you come to Pollards, ask about OCT – it could save your sight.
Q. Hassan