World Glaucoma Week
March 7-13, 2021
World Glaucoma Week is a global joint initiative between the World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Network, in order to raise awareness on Glaucoma. Glaucoma is a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve. It usually happens when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid increases the pressure in your eye, damaging the optic nerve. It causes gradual loss of vision. There are few symptoms so that people may not notice for a long time that they are losing their sight.
Glaucoma is becoming an increasingly important cause of blindness, as the world’s population ages. Glaucoma, however, presents perhaps an even greater public health challenge than cataracts: because the blindness it causes is irreversible. Open-angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma are the two major types of glaucoma. Both the types are characterized by an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP), or pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma is treated by lowering your eye pressure (intraocular pressure). Depending on your situation, your options may include prescription eyedrops, oral medications, laser treatment, surgery or a combination of any of these.
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