National Glaucoma Awareness Month

As we get closer to the new year, what better resolution than leading a healthier lifestyle. One item on everyone's list for the upcoming year seems to be heading back to the gym - to improve their fitness level, or just eating healthier overall for a better quality of life. However, how many of you think about going to the eye doctor more often for preventative vision and eye healthcare? Though it may be down your resolution list a bit, making it a point to see your eye doctor for regularly scheduled eye exams is a must in order to keep seeing your best. It does not matter whether you wear corrective lenses or not, or even if you think your eyes are in perfect condition. Getting a regular eye exam is a necessary part of your overall healthcare regimen, and vital to make sure you are able to continue maintaining healthy vision. One national organization, Prevent Blindness America is helping promote the importance of regular annual eye exams by recognizing January as Glaucoma Awareness Month. Today close to three million people actually have Glaucoma, but some of them do not even realize it because there are often no warning symptoms. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States of America and the first major leading cause of preventable blindness. Approximately 120,000 Americans are mostly blind because they suffer from Glaucoma, accounting for 9% to 12% of all cases of blindness in the United States of America. The condition is also 6 to 8 times more common to be found in African-Americans than in Caucasians. Glaucoma is an eye disease which damages the optic nerve (the pathway for vision between the brain and eye) in the back of the eye most often when eye pressure is elevated in an individual’s eye for an extended period of time. This process can often decrease peripheral vision without symptoms, thus earning it the moniker of “the silent thief of sight”. As such, annual eye exams are the number one deterrent from individuals suffering vision loss caused by Glaucoma and other preventable eye diseases. This is because even in a routine eye examination, your eye doctor can detect signs and/or risk factors of Glaucoma. Many patients are familiar with the dreaded “air-puff test” which is one method of measuring eye pressure, but there are also other methods – such as the Icare Tonometer which measures intraocular pressure (IOP) with no drops or puff of air required for a more comfortable and accurate assessment. If Glaucoma is detected early enough, there are many steps that can be taken in order to maintain the amount of healthy vision one currently has through topical (eye drops), laser, or even surgical treatments. So make sure you make an annual eye exam a part of your healthier lifestyle and keep seeing your best all year round.

A Glaucoma Test in a Contact Lens?

Advances in technology are all around us today, and if you want to stay on the cutting edge then you have to keep up to date with the latest information and constantly be on the lookout for what's next in your industry.

Eyecare is no different and if you are standing still then you will be left behind, so it is important to keep an eye on some of the emerging technologies out there to see if the knowledge behind the technology, the practicality of its use, and the evolving industry's practices can combine to support its overall implementation.

The picture above represents an interesting technology that is on the horizon, it is a contact lens that measures your intraocular pressure throughout the day. The information yielded from this contact lens could be particularly valuable in the area of glaucoma management because the main area of treatment in glaucoma is controlling intraocular pressure.

Glaucoma, which is an eye disease where eye pressure is often elevated causing optic nerve damage and peripheral vision loss, can present with varying intraocular pressure readings throughout the span of an entire day. Thus, monitoring intraocular pressure through a contact lens in someone with suspected glaucoma or one who is being treated for glaucoma would present a wealth of information to possibly help prevent damage to the eye from glaucoma and related eye diseases.

Read more about this exciting technology now being studied in Europe, by clicking here .