There are some eye diseases which don’t cause any problems to the patient but bring about permanent and irreversible damage to the vision

These are called the ‘silent thieves’ of eyesight

When caught early, a lot of damage can be prevented

Most of them occur above 40 yrs ageSome of them are..

Glaucoma Macular degeneration Diabetic retinopathy Cataract

Some of them occur in young age

Lazy eye/amblyopia/squint Retinal holes /detachment in myopes

Also commonly known as ‘black water’ in which optic nerve of the eye gets damaged resulting in permanent vision damage

In this condition the vision starts reducing from the side, therefore the patient does not realize the defect till it’s too late

• Detection is very simple• Eye Pressure must be checked regularly

after the age of 40

• Eye pressure should be checked by an Ophthalmologist when one goes for a routine eye check up/glass check up.

If the eye pressure is raised, eye drops are started to control the pressure

Occasionally surgery may be required if eye pressure is very high

• But whatever vision damage has already occurred due to glaucoma cannot be reversed

• Therefore it is important to detect glaucoma at the earliest

• A person may not have any complaints like pain or discomfort and still may have Glaucoma

The incidence of Glaucoma in general healthy population above 40 yrs of age is about 1 to 2 per 100 individuals

Risk of glaucoma becomes higher in diabetics and blood pressure patients

Is the damage to retina because of diabetes. Retina is like a film of the camera

Once damaged it cannot be repaired

Depending upon whether the centre or peripheral part of the film gets affected, patient realizes damage in vision early or late respectively

If Centre is involved the patient Appreciates the problem early

But if problem starts from the side, it does not affect vision early and patient may not realize the presence of diabetic retinopathy

Damage is because Diabetes damages the blood vessels causing bleeding to occur in the retina

Every diabetic is at risk 80% of diabetics have retinopathy at

some stage of life, irrespective of control of diabetes

Of these 20% have serious retinopathy causing permanent visual problems

Persons are at more risk if they also have associated

Poor sugar control Blood pressure Kidney problem Cholesterol problem

Retina is checked by an ophthalmologist by putting dilating drops

Frequency and interval of check up depends upon extent of problem

Treatment is in the form of lasers ( special light)

Sometimes injections and surgery may also be required

• It is a false notion that surgery can correct the damage completely; in fact once the eye has reached the surgery stage , only little can be done to restore the vision

• Early detection and treatment with laser is the method of choice

• Treatment with Retinal Lasers is In-expensive if treated early

Macula is the centre most sensitive point of the retina responsible for vision

It can often be damaged due to aging

In this condition, abnormal blood vessels can grow into the macula quietly causing vision damage

In initial stages it may go unrecognized by the patient since it affects one eye in the beginning.

The patient compensates vision with other eye and does not realize the visual loss until its too late

• Until recently, there was no treatment available and the elderly used to go blind with this condition

• Recently, there are Injections and lasers available to treat these conditions if treated early.

• There is no treatment if the condition is detected late

Is the clouding of normal lens of the eye

Provide a sharper Image contrast

Age criteria –above 18 years of age

Aim is to have permanent independence from glasses

Risk is less than that with wearing contact lenses for life time

All of us have heard about the old saying

A stitch in time saves nine

In the same way, early detection of eye diseases and their timely management can prevent significant vision loss

THANK YOU