On the afternoon of March 14, at the rally to launch and respond to World Glaucoma Week (March 10 – March 16, 2019) with the theme “Come for an eye examination to detect Glaucoma” Associate Professor, PhD. Cung Hong Son, Deputy Director of the Central Eye Hospital, said glaucoma is a haunting disease because it completely robs the patient of vision if detected late.
Eye examination for glaucoma patients at the National Eye Hospital.
Meanwhile, the number of glaucoma patients tends to increase. It is estimated that there will be 80 million people with glaucoma by 2020, accounting for 2.86% of the population over 40 years old. Of these, 11.2 million people are blind due to disease. The majority of blind people live in developed countries, especially people living in rural areas.
According to Dr. Do Tan – Head of the Glaucoma Department said that this disease ranks second (after cataract) among the preventable causes of blindness. But in reality, every year there are still many people who lose their light forever because of being subjective about this disease. Glaucoma patients admitted to the hospital with very low visual acuity are at high risk of blindness. There are also many patients who come for treatment but do not comply with the doctor’s instructions and treatment regimen, so the risk of recurrence is very high.
Glaucoma often begins suddenly in the evening when the disease occurs. The patient is bending down to read a book or after strong mental trauma.
So when the eyes suddenly show signs of severe pain that spreads to the same side of the head, the patient looks at the light and sees halos. blue and red like a rainbow, often nausea or vomiting, stomach pain, sweating, red eyes and blurred vision to varying degrees, sometimes just as if looking through a fog; Touch your eyes and see that the eyeballs are as hard as marbles; Sometimes patients feel afraid of light and have tears but do not have eye discharge. The cornea is swollen and opaque… please go immediately to the nearest medical facility to have your eye pressure measured.
However, there are Glaucoma patients do not have obvious symptoms but their eyes are still gradually affected. Therefore, experts recommend that people at high risk (regularly using corticosteroid eye drops, using systemic corticosteroids, people over 35 years old who have relatives with glaucoma should have their eyes checked annually. Eye exams are very simple. Eye pressure allows early detection of risks to treat and reduce blindness.
In addition, an alarming problem is the abuse and arbitrarily use of eye drops by people not as prescribed by doctors. Doctors can cause glaucoma due to prolonged use of corticosteroids. According to statistics from the National Eye Hospital, open-angle glaucoma patients with a history of prolonged use of corticosteroids in the eyes account for 31% to 33% of people in this age group. workers (25-59%) account for 63%.
Many people with eye diseases consider corticosteroid-containing drugs as “miracle drugs” because when applied, they quickly relieve itchy, red eyes If you use it for a long time or if your eyes feel scratchy, go to the pharmacy and buy corticosteroid drops. This is very dangerous. Many patients who use corticosteroid drops for a long time end up in the hospital with a cloudy cornea like a swollen eyeball. as if something was choking you, blurring your vision and seeing your eye pressure skyrocket.
In these cases, eye pressure-lowering drugs are very unlikely to be effective. Even surgery cannot bring the eyes back to the way they were before. Therefore, doctors warn absolutely not to use drugs containing corticosteroids arbitrarily, but must be prescribed by a specialist.
In response to “World Glaucoma Week” the National Eye Hospital also Organize free drug consultation and free eye pressure measurement for all patients suspected of having glaucoma on days in rooms C.502 and E.504 at the hospital.
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