It was a busy day at my hospital. I had just finished seeing one patient and called out for my next patient. When this 28-year-old young man entered my OPD room he requested for a medical fitness certificate for a job he had applied in Dubai. I performed a thorough eye examination and ran a few tests.

About an hour later, I was able to tell him that he was suffering from an optic nerve (nerve at the back of the eye connecting the eyes with the brain) disease called glaucoma. Unwilling to believe what he just heard, he said “Are you sure doctor? I never had any eye problem in all my life to visit an eye doctor.” After being explained about the fact that glaucoma is mainly symptomless and can happen to anyone, he looked pretty convinced. He was also happy to know that timely identifying the disease can help control the disease progression.

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness globally, after cataract. Glaucoma, however, presents perhaps an even greater public health challenge than cataracts: because it causes irreversible blindness without letting people know that they have the disease.

Glaucoma is also known as thief of vision. Usually, there are no symptoms until significant damage has occurred. If vision loss continues, it may lead to tunnel vision and eventual blindness. Most common forms of glaucoma are chronic glaucoma (open angle glaucoma) and acute glaucoma (angle closure glaucoma).

Most glaucoma cannot be self-detected; therefore, regular eye checks are important in identifying and managing glaucoma. People at any age may have glaucoma; however the level of risk significantly increases after 40 years age.

Currently there are 645,585 people in Nepal living with glaucoma. Occurrence of glaucoma in people with Diabetes is 3.5 times higher than those without diabetes. Likewise, people with high blood pressure have 2.7 times greater risk of glaucoma than those without high blood pressure. Both diabetes and high blood pressure are increasing rapidly globally and in Nepal.

Suspects listed above need to be examined annually to detect glaucoma early and prevent the damage to the optic nerve. Since chronic glaucoma is a “silent sight robber”, the only way to diagnose it is early detection through screening of suspects.

The management of glaucoma typically proceeds from a series of eye examinations, all of which are harmless. Glaucoma therapy involves medicines, lasers, and surgery. Don’t let the sneak thief of sight steal your vision. Get your eyes checked for glaucoma today!

Dr Nirsara is an eye specialist with super-specialization in glaucoma