Doctors warn of ‘sneaky’ condition causing blindness

Don’t miss what is right in front of you.

It is the message being shared as part of the Glaucoma Aware campaign, following World Glaucoma Week last week.

The Glaucoma Aware campaign aims to unearth 150,000 Australians who face preventable blindness and don’t know it.

Glaucoma Australia reports more than 300,000 Australians have the condition but only half of those have been diagnosed. 

According to the campaign’s recent survey results conducted by Edelman Intelligence, around 60% of Australians either haven’t been tested or don’t know if they’ve been tested for glaucoma.

This is of great concern to Optometry Australia, which is on a mission to curb preventable eye disease through regular eye examinations.

80% of blindness in Australia is preventable, and with vision loss costing the economy $16.6 billion per year there are many reasons we should be looking after our most precious sense.

Optometry Australia’s resident optometrist, Luke Arundel said the motivation for getting an eye test often only comes when changes to vision are noted.

“In some cases, that’s shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.” Luke Arundel

Read more: The vegetables that will keep your vision sharp.

Glaucoma is one of the “sneaky” conditions that can progress undetected without a check-up until significant amounts of vision are irreversibly lost.

 “It’s an invisible, painless disease which affects our side vision, and because it often occurs in one eye first many people do not notice it in the early stages, as their good eye compensates for the vision loss in the other eye. The sad truth is that a lot of Australians are out there undiagnosed right now.

“Because it’s nerve damage, there’s no getting it back. But if we pick it up early, we can stop you losing more vision or stop you from going blind, so of course the earlier detection is made the better. More people can be assisted with reading, computer use and day to day tasks than previously,” Mr Arundel said.

Read more: Macular degeneration and diet.

Age and family history are the biggest risk factors. According to National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines, glaucoma prevalence is four to ten times higher in people aged 60 years or older, compared to individuals in their 40s.

Relatives of glaucoma patients have a ten-fold increased risk of developing the disease².

National guidelines encourage every Australian over the age of 50 to get a comprehensive eye examination to test for the early signs of glaucoma.

This video, launched for Glaucoma Week, shows the tragic loss of vision and ‘precious moments’ which could have been saved by earlier detection.

To find an optometrist in your area visit goodvisionforlife.com.au.

Have you had your eyes tested?