Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 9: Every year ophthalmologists across the globe celebrate second week of March as ‘World Glaucoma Week.’ The solo purpose of celebrating this week is to educate and spread awareness among general masses about the silent thief of vision Glaucoma.
This was informed by Dr Manoj Gupta, Senior Consultant, Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals, Jammu.
“Glaucoma (Kala Motiya/Eye Pressure Disease) is a neurodegenerative disease of 2nd cranial nerve, the optic nerve. Glaucoma is now a public health issue globally because it is the second leading cause of vision loss after cataracts”, he stated.
“In my experience, there are 4 main reasons why we have so many drug defaulters in Glaucoma and why we are losing battle with Glaucoma despite timely diagnosis sometimes. The first one Glaucoma is an asymptomatic disease, second one irreversible nature of Glaucoma, third one cost of medication and the last one cosmetic problem”, Dr Manoj Gupta said, adding that sometimes some anti-glaucoma medications can give rise to redness of eyes or dark circles around eyes which become a matter of concern especially with female patients.
I have always practiced by a principle ‘A patient has the right to know about his disease’, he said, adding that a patient educated and counseled properly about his disease stands a better chance of winning than a patient who is left ignorant.
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