"Glaucoma month is January..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspirational Monday)

Judith Whitehead is back guest-blogging on this Inspirational Monday about  the prevention of eye disease...Judith lives in Amherst N.Y. has worked in the ophthalmology field of medicine for almost 30 years...

Glaucoma month is January

Since I work in the field of Ophthalmology, I felt compelled to educate the public with this article this week. Yes, January is national glaucoma awareness month but in my book, it should be every day of the year. Glaucoma is a silent disease for the most part; there are very few symptoms to glaucoma unless you have sudden glaucoma from an injury, narrow angle in the eye or are born with it. Glaucoma is sneaky…it is called the sneak thief of sight; it quietly takes away ones peripheral (side) vision slowly until, if undetected, you are left with a tunnel of constricted vision.

The optic nerve degenerates and causes you to lose all of your sight. It is very easy to detect glaucoma; just go to the eye Doc and have your eyes checked. With a simple painless test, you can tell what the eye pressure is in the eye and start treatment with drops, laser or surgery if need be. Just remember, what ever peripheral vision you lose to glaucoma, you can never get it back. It’s too late if the eye goes untreated. There are other ways to detect this disease as well. The eye doctor may perform a test of your peripheral vision, may photograph the optic nerve or measure the thickness of the cornea; all these tests let the Doctor know if you are at risk for this disease. Don’t go blind willingly….get tested. There are clinics and testing sights in every city to get checked. Don’t wait…do it today. I have seen all too many times what this disease can do to ruin your life.

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