Dr Angela Ewunonu, an optometrist, on Thursday said glaucoma had remained a major challenged to health professionals and called for proper management of the disease.
Fielding questions with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Ewunonu said that early treatment of the ailment was imperative.
Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage resulting to permanent impairing vision in the affected eye (s) and causing blindness if not properly managed.
Ewunonu said that one thing about glaucoma is that vision lost cannot be gained back nor recalled back.
She said the only remedy was to maintain the vision that one had, stressing that “one major thing about glaucoma is that it does not present any symptoms.
“You are not going to feel headache or eye pain to go to hospital for check, the only thing it will present to you is blindness and most people come with blindness in one eye.”
She also said that ailment was hereditary, although there were other causes such as accident, stressing that accident could trigger it.
“If Somebody hits you with a stick in the eye, such can trigger or increase the intraocular pressure. When that happens, you can have an angle closure glaucoma, which leads to blindness.
“There are drug-induced causes like steroid; this is for one who has been on steroid for a long time. Such person is predisposed to glaucoma. Steroid has the ability to increase the irregular pressure in the eye.’’
The medical practitioner advised people living with the disease to be on routine checks every six months.
Ewunonu also called on those with the history of glaucoma in their family to ensure regular check, stressing that such people should checked their eyes at least twice every year.(
