Glaucoma has often been referred to as "the silent thief of sight", due to the fact that many symptoms of the disease can affect you without your knowledge. This is because glaucoma causes damage to the optic nerve and can reduce your peripheral vision without you noticing any change.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness today and affects over 4 million americans. Glaucoma is 6 to 8 times more common in African Americans than Caucasians.
According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, "The best way to protect your sight from glaucoma is to get a comprehensive eye examination. Then, if you have glaucoma, treatment can begin immediately."
New technologies are also helping detect glaucoma in patients earlier, leading to initiating treatments faster, and thus helping preserve vision. One type of this technology is found in scanning lasers that are able to effectively show the retinal nerve fiber layer and the optic nerve head. Two such instruments that effectively use this type of technology are the OCT, and GDX.
These instruments work by helping your eye doctor map out the retinal nerve fiber layer and thus examine your risk for glaucoma and track any progression of the disease. If you have a family history of glaucoma, are over 40 years old, or have other risk factors an annual comprehensive eye exam is a must to help rule out the presence of glaucoma.
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