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Tag: glaucoma

  • ‘Glaucoma can be managed’

    ‘Glaucoma can be managed’

    The World Glaucoma Week is observed from March 12 to 18 yearly.  This year’s theme is Beat Invisible Glaucoma (BIG). OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA writes that with proper diagnosis, treatment and compliance, one can win the war against the silent thief of sight.

    when Alhaja Falilat Otule was 48, she took one of her children for physiotherapy at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba. But she did not expect what followed.

    While the child was being attended to, she saw the Guinness Eye Centre, the ophthalmology arm of the hospital, in the Physiology Block. She decided to check her eyes at the unit, a decision she is thankful for, 19 years later.

    At 67, Alhaja Otule is happy that she can see her grandchildren, “especially when they play around me, singing, dancing or helping out with their school exercises, despite having glaucoma. I am a good nanny, loss of eyes would have deprived me of that.”

    She recalled that when she got to the Eye Centre, an ophthalmologist screened her eyes. “I was asked if I had ever been told that I had glaucoma. I said no. The doctor got my eyes dilated to see the back of them. After this, the doctor screened them. I was told that I had glaucoma.”

    Expectedly, she was agitated and asked to be enlightened on the disease. She said: “The doctor educated me on glaucoma. I was told that I was going to have surgery. I was surprised and I told her I didn’t want to lose my sight. She said I wouldn’t, if I complied with her instructions. Later, we prepared for the surgery , it was done same day on both eyes. People were blamed me for this, but I told them that I accepted to do that based on the doctor’s explanations, on the urgent need to do the operation.”

    Alhaja Otule said she researched on the disease and knew that conformity with treatment was the only way out because, “glaucoma is a group of diseases that gradually damage the optic nerve in the eye and may result in vision loss and blindness. It is often called the silent thief of sight because of its slow onset and progression, causing permanent vision loss with very few or no early warning signs, especially for people who are 40 years and above’’.

    When she travelled overseas, the first thing she did was to look for an eye clinic. ‘’I was there for 15 years. I ensured that I attended the clinic regularly for checks.When I returned, the first thing I did was to come back to the Guinness Eye Centre to continue with my treatment. Over time, my drugs were changed. Despite their exorbitant costs, especially during this foreign exchange (forex) crisis, I ensured that I bought them. Even if I had to go hungry, I prefered that to losing my eyes. “

    She and others with the condition, who are receiving treatment at LUTH, have formed a support group – Glaucoma Patient Care Initiative of Nigeria- to ensure, “availability, affordability, and compliance with drugs, and create awareness. We hold meetings every two months. Each time we do that, there are doctors to discuss with us’’.

    She said: “To win the war against glaucoma, I will say people have to use medication as at when due and to see doctors regularly for screening. I am the secretary of the LUTH’s Glaucoma Patient Care Initiative of Nigeria.’’

    If Alhaja Otule was proactive, not so 31-year-old Mrs Funmilola Damola, who is partially blind.

    Mrs Damola said her eye problems started in 2006. “It was unfortunate that I did not know I had glaucoma. The first general hospital I went to told me I had eye problems. Two years later, I went to another hospital, a federal- owned. I was told I had glaucoma. They prescribed drugs for me, warning that I should be using them monthly,”she said.

    Initially, Mrs Damola tried to cope. “But because I was seeing, though not clearly, I skipped the drugs once in a while because I could not buy them once they finished. I was teaching then.But it got to a time my appointment was terminated because I wasn’t able to mark my pupils’sheets and I couldn’t afford to buy the eye drops.”

    She tried her best to get another job.But within six months her sight deteriorated. She was forced to stay at home.

    Her saving grace was the Glaucoma Patient Care Initiative of Nigeria. Two years ago, during the group’s Glaucoma Week enlightenment campaign, the body’s officials went to a radio station in Lagos to create awareness on the disease. Damola listened.

    Its secretary and the vice-chairman explained the disesase. At the end, the presenter asked the executives to leave their numbers and the address of their centre.They did. Mrs Damola later called them. She got a response. That was how her journey to victory started.

    The LUTH’s Glaucoma Patient Care Initiative enrolled her as a member and she became a patient of the Guinness Eye Centre.

    However, Mrs Damola’s case was helpless, the doctor said, as she had lost the vision in one eye. The second was also going bad but that it could be managed. “I have been managing the second eye through medical intervention. I had laser treatment. I have been using my medication everyday, according to doctor’s instructions. I can still see but faintly,” she explained.

    Mrs Damola  took to learning a trade. Last year, the  Glaucoma Patient Care Initiative sponsored her at the Centre for the Blind at Isheri Olofin, owned by the Lagos State Government to learn bead making. I was also trained to operate a laptop using the software ‘mobile speech’. I graduated from the school last December,” she said.

    Glaucoma Society of Nigeria (GSN) Chairman, Prof Adeola Onakoya, explained why Mrs Damola’s case was pathetic. “Medically, she is blind in both eyes. The little vision she had left we had tried very much to conserve it. As she said, she had laser treatment and she is on what I would call maximum tolerable therapy. She is young and she has two children. There are so many people like that on the streets, hence this awareness yearly. Because of our culture, people tend to associate the disease with some diabolical means, instead of going to the hospital to get the medical explanation,” Onakoya said.

    She said there were about 1.8 million adults in the country who have glaucoma, and of these,  360,000, who are above 40 are blind.

    She said: “One in 40 adults older than 40 years has glaucoma with loss of vision. Fifty percent of glaucoma cases are undiagnosed. As many as 60 per cent of the cases run in family. And we have recorded cases where even children less than 10 have aggressive glaucoma. It is highly recommended that people should get their eyes screened by professionals.”

    Onakoya, the Head of Ophthalmology Department of the Guinness Eye Centre, said the reason for the high figure and the irreversible loss of eye is because glaucoma is asymptomatic.

    “We need to educate people to let them know about the disease – that it is not a disease one can consciously know that one has, except the doctor examined your eyes. About 90 per cent of the time you may not know that you have glaucoma but at the time you know that you have glaucoma or that you see the ‘symptoms’, which is unclear vision, then it is late. That is why in developing countries, about 90 percent of the people develop loss vision before seeing the doctor.But in developed countries, only about 50 percent are aware at a point blindness can be prevented. So, because of this, we need to create a lot of awareness. That is the essence of this Glaucoma Week.”

    Onakoya, a Consultant Ophthalmologist, warned that once a person is diagnosed of glaucoma and placed on treatment, he should not stop taking the drugs.

    “We have seen cases where treatment was interrupted because patients cannot afford it. By the time they return for treatment, so much damage had been done, including appreciable loss of vision. Although glaucoma cannot be cured, treatment can often effectively stop the progression of the disease. Lowering eye pressure is the only effective way to halt progression of glaucoma and preserve vision. All glaucoma treatments are aimed at lowering eye pressure by either reducing the amount of eye fluid produced, and/or improving drainage of fluid out of the eye,” she explained.

    According to the Head, Corporate Services Division, LUTH, Kenneth Otuneme, the hospital has been providing free glaucoma screening to the public. “This programme is part of the hospital’s corporate social responsibility and is geared towards helping to raise awareness for glaucoma, which is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. There was also a public lecture at the Sickle Cell Centre, Opposite LUTH,” Otuneme said.

    On how drugs could be made more affordable for patients, Pfizer’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Mrs Margret Olele, said the drugs giant partners patients and institutions.

    Mrs Olele said: “For instance, we have journeyed with this Glaucoma Association from the inception and one of the things we worked out with them is actually creating awareness to ensure that different levels of stakeholders know about what is going on. We deliver these products to hospitals, so patients can easily get them at discounted costs.’’

    She said Pfizer was committed to glaucoma care by creating awareness on preventive measures, treatment and others.

    She said: “Just as Prof Onakoya mentioned that 1.8 million people are suffering from glaucoma, when you look at that, it seems one percent of the total population. When you imagine the implications, because we have a dependency structure in our society. For instance, Alhaja Otule will have probably 20 or more people she is supporting. You can, then, imagine the implications of one person going blind in Nigeria. The ripple effects of that on the society are tremendous. We need to talk about this. We are looking at the implications of glaucoma on the society and to let policymakers and stakeholders understand that this is really critical. I would encourage other stakeholders to work together with the association to increase awareness. We can talk about reaching out to policymakers and key stakeholders.”

    Mrs Olele added: “Secondly, the issue of medicines is a critical issue and the discussions have been ongoing. We are committed to increasing access to good quality medicines. I hope to see more satellites’association in various teaching hospitals. This is where patients get empowered, knowledge and are able to spread the knowledge to their families and various stakeholders. So, that will improve our understanding of this disease. We should encourage research into the disease, so that we are better able to manage it. I laud what the Glaucoma Association is doing in creating awareness and supporting people who have glaucoma to manage it themselves. I pledge  Pfizer’s commitment to the association to improve the lives of those living with glaucoma and, by extension, their dependants.”

  • ‘Glaucoma can be slowed down’

    ‘Glaucoma can be slowed down’

    As the world marks this year’s Glaucoma Week, OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA writes on how to slow down the disease from causing vision loss.

    Have you ever turned sideways to take a good look at an object and discovered that you saw nothing? That is, tilting your head to take a full grasp of an image and did not see anything? If you have experienced this, it is the first sign of gradual vision loss due to glaucoma.

    According to eye care experts, it could mean that you have developed glaucoma, and in this case, it is open-angle glaucoma, the most common form, with virtually no symptoms.

    Glaucoma is the term applied to a group of eye diseases that gradually result in loss of vision by permanently damaging the optic nerve, the nerve that transmits visual images to the brain. The leading cause of irreversible blindness, glaucoma often produces no symptoms until it is too late and vision loss has begun.

    According to the Chairman, Glaucoma Society of Nigeria, Prof Adeola Onakoya, vision loss begins with peripheral or side vision. She said: “You may compensate for this unconsciously by turning your head to the side, and may not notice anything unusual with this habit until significant vision is lost. The best way to protect your sight from glaucoma is to get tested. If you have glaucoma, treatment can begin immediately. Usually, no pain is associated with increased eye pressure.

    “Glaucoma is an eye condition in which the optic nerve becomes damaged over time, reducing side    progression down or prevent blindness. The first step on the path to lowering your eye pressure naturally is to lower your insulin levels. Insulin can cause your eye pressure to increase so it’s wise to avoid sugary and carbohydrate-heavy foods such as sodas, starches, sweets and breads.  Breads. Pasta. Rice. Cereal. Potatoes. A change in your diet can make a big difference in, not only your eye health, but your overall health as well.”

    She said the risk factors include ageing, family history, and common in blacks and although some of the risk factors are unavoidable, it is possible to reduce your eye pressure- naturally. There are simple, common sense, suggestions that can make a big difference in the way your eyes age.

    She said eating green vegetables that mostly contain retinol is one giant step to preserving the eyes, “Foods containing vitamin E can be helpful. These foods include eggs, fortified cereals, fruit, wheat germ, green leafy vegetables- spinach.”

    “Regular comprehensive eye exams can help detect glaucoma in its early stages before irreversible damage occurs. Know your family’s eye health history. Glaucoma tends to run in families,” she said.

    In the same vein, Dr Onakoya said one should avoid alcohol, among others. “No  conclusive studies proved a connection between specific foods and glaucoma, but it is reasonable to assume that what you eat and drink and your general health have an effect on the disease.Some studies have shown that significant caffeine intake over a short time can slightly elevate intraocular eye pressure (IOP) for one to three hours. However, other studies indicate that caffeine has no meaningful impact on IOP. To be safe, people with glaucoma are advised to limit their caffeine intake to moderate levels.

    “Studies have also shown that as many as 80 per cent of people with glaucoma, who consume an entire quart of water over the course of twenty minutes experience elevated IOP, as compared to only 20 per cent of people who don’t have glaucoma. Since many commercial diet programmes stress the importance of drinking to at least, eight glasses of water daily, to be safe, people with glaucoma are encouraged to consume water in small amounts throughout the day.”

    A natural health practitioner and authority in ophthalmology, Prof Adebukola Adefule-Ositelu, said a very common symptom of glaucoma, one that often goes unrecognised at first, is a loss of peripheral vision, which can be dangerous when driving. Blurred vision, seeing halos, eye pain and headaches are also symptoms, although they do vary from person to person.

    She said people most at risk for developing glaucoma include people, who are over the age of 40. “As we age our eyes age as well glaucoma is most often diagnosed in people over the age of 40. People who have a family history of glaucoma. As with many other illnesses, if members of your immediate family suffer from glaucoma, there is a higher chance that you may also be at risk. Diabetics. People who already suffer from nearsightedness or farsightedness, existing vision problems can weaken the eyes making it more likely that you will have problems with glaucoma as you age,” she said.

    Adefule-Ositelu said though there are no known causes of glaucoma,  prevention is important by get regular eye care. Exercise safely. Take prescribed eye drops regularly. Wear eye protection.

    For those who wonder if glaucoma can be cured, her reply is in the negative. “In general, glaucoma cannot be cured, but it can be controlled. Eye drops, pills, laser procedures, and surgical operations are used to prevent or slow further damage from occurring. With any type of glaucoma, regular eye examinations are very important to detect progression and to prevent vision loss. Some of the vitamins and minerals important to the eye include zinc and copper, antioxidant vitamins C, E, and A (as beta carotene), and selenium, an antioxidant mineral,” she said.

    Way out?

    She said garcinia kola has proven helpful in the treatment of glaucoma.

    “Garcinia kola Heckel of the family Guttiferaceae is an indigenous herb in Nigeria colloquially referred to as “bitter kola”, “false kola” or “male kola.” Garcinia kola (G. kola) has anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, antimicrobial and antiviral properties. I have documented its use and results. Topical Garcinia kola 0.5 per cent aqueous eye drops are as effective as timolol maleate 0.5 per cent eye drops in lowering IOP in newly diagnosed glaucoma and ocular hypertensive patients,” she said.

     

  • Akiolu to subjects: Prevent glaucoma

    Akiolu to subjects: Prevent glaucoma

    Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu has  called on  Lagos residents to go for glaucoma screening to prevent blindness.

    Oba Akiolu said this when the management of Pfizer Specialties, the country’s arm of Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals, paid the monarch a courtesy visit.

    Oba Akiolu said he has lived with the condition for over 21 years and was able to manage same because of the right information. “So, as a person living with glaucoma, I can say for anyone not to go blind, if you are being treated for glaucoma, be sure to take your prescribed glaucoma medicine every day. See your eye care professional regularly. You can help protect the vision of family members and friends, who may be at high risk for glaucoma, especially those over age 40 and everyone over 60 years and people with a family history of the disease by sharing information as I am doing.

    “Please encourage them to have a comprehensive dilated eye examination regularly. Remember that lowering eye pressure in the early stages of glaucoma slows progression of the disease and helps save vision,” said Oba Akiolu.

    He said glaucoma is the thief of sight hence, “immediate treatment for early-stage, open-angle glaucoma can delay progression of the disease. “That’s why early diagnosis is very important. Glaucoma treatments include medicines, laser trabeculoplasty, conventional surgery, or a combination of any of these. While these treatments may save remaining vision, they do not improve or restore sight already lost from glaucoma,” he said.

    Director, Corporate Affairs, Pfizer Specialties Limited Nigeria and East Africa Region (NEAR) Region, Mrs Margaret Olele, said the company was at the palace to explore ways to partner the monarch to ensure that more people have access to routine screening in the state, including glaucoma. “There is no cure for glaucoma. Glaucoma is described as sneak thief of vision. Vision lost from the disease cannot be restored. Glaucoma is a condition that causes damage to eye’s optic nerve and gets worse over time. It’s often associated with a buildup of pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma tends to be inherited and may not show up until later in life. So, we want to create awareness on that and also provide medical-posts where people, especially the market men and women can go and check for non communicable diseases (NCDs). Glaucoma cannot be prevented, but if it is diagnosed and treated early, the disease can be controlled,” said Mrs Olele.

    Explaining how glaucoma comes about, she said: “The increased pressure, called intraocular pressure, can damage the optic nerve, which transmits images to the brain. If damage to the optic nerve from high eye pressure continues, glaucoma will cause permanent loss of vision. Without treatment, glaucoma can cause total permanent blindness within a few years. Because most people with glaucoma have no early symptoms or pain from this increased pressure, it is important to see an eye doctor regularly so that glaucoma can be diagnosed and treated before long-term visual loss occurs.”

    She reinterated that if one was over age 40 and has a family history of glaucoma, one should have a complete eye examination with an eye doctor every one to two years. If one has health problems such as diabetes or a family history of glaucoma or is at a risk for other eye diseases, one may need to visit an eye doctor more frequently.

    Members of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Glaucoma Support Group Initiative were also there.

  • Glaucoma: Expert advises on measures to avoid blindness

    An ophthalmologist, Dr Thelma Ndife, has advised Nigerians to conduct regular eye screening to avoid getting blind.

    Ndife, of the Department of Glaucoma and Cataract, National Eye Centre, made the call on Wednesday in Kaduna at a public lecture on glaucoma organised by the state chapter of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).

    She said glaucoma remains the second major cause of blindness globally, with over 60 million people already affected.

    “About nine million people are blind from this disease in Nigeria and some have it but they do not know.”

    Glaucoma is an an eye disease that gradually causes vision loss due to damage of the optic nerves which carries images from the eye to the brain.

    “This results in gradual vision loss, usually beginning with the side vision and slowly moving inward until the vision is lost altogether if left untreated,” the expert said.

    Ndife advised Nigerians to always go for screening to know their status so as to avoid complications.

    “People whose relatives have glaucoma should also have themselves tested because it is herediatary.”

    She added that people from the age of 60, those with high eye pressure, near sighted, and those with injuries in the eye or who had undergone eye surgery were more likely to get glaucoma.

    Ndife advised affected persons to take their drugs regularly as prescribe by doctors, adding that “the fight against glaucoma is not complete until we have ambassadors in every community”.

    In a remark, the Head of Human Resources of the centre, Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim commended the NMA for organising the workshop, which he said was meant to save lives.

    Ibrahim advised Nigerians on regular eye examination to safeguard their vision.

  • Two million suffer from glaucoma, says expert

    Two million suffer from glaucoma, says expert

    Mr Kolawole Samson, a retired civil servant returned from work, ate his supper and went to bed but on getting up the next day, he couldn’t see again.

    Family, friends and neighbours attributed his sudden blindness to “a spiritual attack” but when he sought the help of ophthalmologists, it was discovered he had glaucoma – a disease popularly called the “thief of the eye”.

    During the meeting of Glaucoma Association of Nigeria (GAN), University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH) branch, a Consultant Ophthalmologist Dr Adeola Onakoya, said glaucoma was an eye disease which gradually causes vision loss.

    Onakoya said about two million people are living with the ailment in Nigeria. This figure, she said, represents about 20 per cent of people above 40 years.

    She said no fewer than 200,000 people were blind the worldwide, adding that glaucoma is the second leading cause of visual impairment after cataract. It also represents 17 per cent, she said.

    Onakoya, who is a glaucoma specialist, said of 4.2 per cent blindness rate glaucoma represents 0.7 according to the Nigeria National Blindness Survey 2005 to 2007.

    According to her, this usually happens when the optic nerves that carry images from the eye to the brain becomes damaged.

    People, Onakoya said cannot feel the pressure that causes glaucoma, adding that they need an eye examination to check the pressure and the health of their optic nerve.

    She said: “This results in gradual vision loss. It usually begins in the side vision before slowly moving inward until the vision is lost completely if left untreated. In most cases, the optic nerve becomes damaged by the pressure inside the eye called intraocular pressure (IOP).

    “When the pressure in the eye is too high, it pushes on the cells that make up the optic nerve. Over time, this is pressure damages the cells and causes them to die eventually. This is what causes permanent vision loss. Damage to the optic nerve can happen slowly, so it is difficult to notice.”

    She said no fewer than 2,400 glaucoma patients visit LUTH monthly to receive treatment, adding that majority of them present late.

    She said everybody can get glaucoma but the condition is common in older people, especially those above 60 years.

    “Also, people with IOP and those with family history of the condition. Black Africans and Asians. People who are very near-sighted. People who use steroids to treat conditions such as asthma and those who have had eye injuries or eye surgery, which can damage the pressure-regulating system of the eye.

    She said patients can use medications such as eye drops to lower the pressure of the eye. Laser therapy or surgery can be used if the medications are not enough.

    These treatment, she said should begin early because once vision is lost, it could not be recovered.

    Chairman, GAN, LUTH Branch, Chief Adesiyakan Adeduro, recommended regular eye check to ensure early detection of glaucoma.

    He noted that the best way to treat glaucoma is for it not to lead to blindness, adding that medications such as eye drops are essential to prevent going blind.

    “The condition is hard to manage because of the funds involved as eye drops are quite expensive and not many patients can afford them,” he stated.

    Prof Adebukunola Adefula-Ositelu urged people living with eye problem to take medications appropriately. She advised that no drug should be taken late at night, especially shortly before bed time to avoid it having adverse effect on the eyes.

    Eye drops are to help stabilise the eye pressure, she added.

    She said: “People with eye problem must always keep to doctors appointment and must complete treatment. Do not lie down with your eyes faced down, because this would bring up the eye pressure and thus damage the eye.”

    Onakoya said water was good for the body but noted that a glaucoma patient should not take more than half a cup at a time every 30 minutes than gulping down two cups and more.

    She stressed that the correct and timely use of anti-oxidants, eye drops as well as eating of raw fruits and vegetables such as cabbage, garden egg and grape would help in the recovery of the eye.

    The Head of Department, Ophthalmology, LUTH, Prof Folasade Akinsola, said patients should keep to their appointment date in the clinic and use their medications correctly.

    She advised that when applying the eye drop, it should be dropped on the lower part of the eyes and the eyes should be closed.

     

  • The fight against glaucoma

    As the world ended observation of World Glaucoma Week in March, it was revealed that not less than 4.5 million Nigerians suffer from this incurable disease.

    In his bid to address this challenge, the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation has contributed €150,000 to endow a professorship of glaucoma in the Department of Ophthalamology at the University of Mainz, Germany. This will help to support research on the early detection and treatment of glaucoma. The foundation has previously contributed more than €100,000 in an effort to find a cure for this most frequent cause of irreversible blindness. The foundation has also established a Nigerian Fellowship for Cataract Surgery and Glaucoma Management at the same university. Dr. Funmilola Ogun, consultant ophtalmologist and associate lecturer at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, has received training for her work in Nigeria through this initiative.

    There is no cure for glaucoma yet, but innovative and unique treatments are being explored by Dr. Norbert Pfeiffer and his team at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Mainz, Germany.

    By analysing tear fluid and blood samples, Dr. Pfeiffer has discovered that auto-antibodies found in patients can act as markers for detection of the disease. Even though glaucoma is not considered a classic autoimmune disease, these changes in antibody profiles might be used as a screening test. It is known that antibodies develop many years before the clinical onset of the disease, hence, autoantibody profiles have the potential to be powerful and highly specific markers to assist in the diagnosis of glaucoma.

    This exciting discovery of improved biomarkers for detection may contribute to a better understanding of the genesis of glaucoma, and has the potential to open a new avenue that will radically change treatment options.

    What is glaucoma?

    Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegenerative disease and the leading cause of blindness among Africans after cataracts. Intraocular pressure damages the optic nerve that transmits images to the brain, resulting in a gradual loss of vision. Initially there are no symptoms or pain and the disease can go unnoticed until the situation becomes critical. Without treatment glaucoma can cause blindness within a few years. Blindness from glaucoma is 6-8 times more common in Africans than Caucasians.

    People of all ages can be affected by this disease. However, certain groups are at a higher risk of developing glaucoma than others:

    •Individuals who have poor vision (short-sightedness)

    •Diabetics

    •Those who have a family history of glaucoma. Family history increases risk of glaucoma four to nine times.

    •Less common causes include blunt or chemical injury to the eye, severe eye infection and blockage of blood vessels in the eye.

    •Intake of cortizone

    Glaucoma most often occurs in adults over age 40, but can also occur in young adults, children and even infants. Onset of the disease in Africa is common between the ages of 30-40 years, compared with 40-60 years old worldwide. Africans are six times more likely to develop glaucoma and ten times more likely to become blind; ten years earlier than Europeans.

    How can glaucoma be prevented?

    Diagnosis of the disease is difficult, with average detection currently at ten years after onset. The first sign of glaucoma is often the loss of peripheral vision which can go unnoticed until late in the disease. In some cases, intraocular pressure can rise to severe levels. In these cases, sudden eye pain, headache, blurred vision, or the appearance of halos around lights may occur.

    Regular eye examinations are the best form of prevention against damage caused by glaucoma. A complete eye examination with an eye specialist every one or two years is key to protecting your vision. Getting informed and staying healthy is also necessary in managing glaucoma. It is important to see your eye doctor regularly so that glaucoma can be treated before long term visual loss occurs. If the condition is detected early enough, it is possible to arrest its development or slow the progression by medical and surgical means.

    Remember! A burglar is on the prowl and he is right around the cornea. This “thief of sight” is neither heard nor seen, and can smash your precious window on the world. It is up to you to arrest glaucoma. Get tested!

     

    •Farris is the Director General, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Abuja

  • Researcher seeks end to inherited glaucoma

    Moved by the plight of a 20-year- old accountant who was going  blind from juvenile-onset glaucoma, Dr. Oluwatoyin F. Fafowora, a US-based Nigerian researcher, has stepped up efforts at unearthing the root-cause of the disease, thus ending it in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

    “Because it affects the younger generation, I found it rather painful to be treating it. I very much prefer research into it because it is more meaningful,” Fafowora, Fogarty Fellow between 2008 and 2010, and formerly of the University of Ibadan, told The Nation.

    Fafowora’s foray into researches got a boost when she got the Fogarty Fellowship in 2008 to engage in global health studies. Fogarty’s Global Health Programme for Fellows and Scholars provides post-doctoral and doctoral students with the opportunity of spending a year under mentorship at an established research centre in a developing country.

    It is aimed at encouraging career scientists on global health research, provision of a training resource to the host institutions and fostering international research collaborations.

    For the success of her research and her attempt at confirming their involvement and identifying additional genes, Fafowora’s fellowship was extended by a year.

    The researcher, who told The Nation that she had seen that research is different from clinical work, added that she quickly learned a range of new skills during her fellowship. She added: “You must decide the importance of the disease, the possibility of studying that disease and the usefulness of the outcome. And also what is important to you and to the funding institute.”

    Fafowora, who hinted that she is striving to complete analysis of the data to unearth genes that bring a high risk for this type of glaucoma, added that she would publish her findings in due course. “The moment the relevant genes have been identified, children can be screened for them. And I hope that our findings will contribute to developing gene therapy for glaucoma.”