By Charis Torrance
March is an important month for eye health, especially with World Glaucoma Week (9–12 March) putting the spotlight on this silent but serious condition. And if you’ve been putting off that eye exam, this is your sign to book it—because when it comes to glaucoma, early detection is everything.
According to Adele Camarena, founder and owner of Spectacle World (also known as Camarena Porter Optometrist), our eyes deserve just as much attention as the rest of our health. “Seventy-five percent of all cases of blindness is avoidable either through prevention or treatment, which is why it’s so important to get your eyes tested at least once per year,” she says.
How do you know if something’s wrong? Well, symptoms of eye conditions can include vision loss, altered eye movements, eye pain, visual field loss, and even a bulging eye. And here’s a sobering fact: “In South Africa, vision loss is one of the primary causes of disability, accounting for roughly 32% of all disabilities,” Camarena adds. One of the biggest culprits? Glaucoma—a group of eye diseases that progressively damage the optic nerve and is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss worldwide.
The silent thief of sight
Glaucoma is tricky. It creeps up on you without any obvious symptoms, and by the time you notice a problem, permanent damage may already be done.
Specialist ophthalmologists, Dr Linett du Toit and Dr Dony Mathew, break it down: At birth, each optic nerve contains around 1.2 million nerve fibres. Over time, we naturally lose some – like age-related hearing loss – but people with glaucoma lose them much faster.
“When one loses nerve fibres, you lose peripheral vision, so it’s often not detected until later in the disease,” they explain. “Nerve fibres are neural tissue, and once they’re lost, they can’t be recovered. The associated loss of vision can thus also not be reversed.” Scary, right?
Prevention is better than cure
The only known treatable risk factor for glaucoma is intraocular pressure (IOP) – the pressure in your eye. Dr du Toit stresses that treatment is all about slowing down the loss of nerve fibres by reducing this pressure. But here’s the thing: treatment is not one-size-fits-all.
Dr Mathew explains that treatment options vary depending on the type of glaucoma and how much damage has already been done. “The treatment options consist of eye drops, different types of laser therapy, small devices placed into the eye (sometimes at the time of cataract surgery), and also larger drainage devices if a greater decrease in pressure is required.”
And, of course, lifestyle matters. “A lot of research is performed to try and determine factors that will prevent progression of the disease, but as always, a healthy lifestyle is recommended – which includes not smoking, regular exercise, and a balanced diet,” he says.
Don’t wait until it’s too late
If an optometrist suspects you have glaucoma, they’ll refer you to an ophthalmologist for further testing. Camarena warns that many people assume their vision is fine when, in reality, they could be seeing much more clearly. “Many forms of glaucoma have no warning signs. The effect is so gradual that you may not notice a change in vision until the condition is at an advanced stage,” she explains.
So, what’s the takeaway? Make your eye exam a non-negotiable part of your annual health check-up. Your vision is just as important as any other aspect of your well-being, and protecting it starts with early detection.
Now, go book that appointment – your future self will thank you for it!
*Source: https://www.tia.org.za/
