World Glaucoma Week: At least 11.2 million Indians suffer from glaucoma, says PGI doctor

Every 8th individual or nearly 40 million has either glaucoma or is at the risk of developing the disease and 11.2 million Indians suffer from the disease with 1.1 million blind, including children.

By: Express News Service

Chandigarh | March 5, 2022 04:02 AM IST

2 min read

Early recognition and treatment are important to prevent the disease and it more commonly affects people beyond the age of 40 years. High myopes, diabetics, and those with a family history have a higher risk of developing glaucoma,” added Dr Pandav.

Advanced Eye Centre, PGI, is planning a series of activities to commemorate World Glaucoma Week, from March 6 – 12, 2022. The main aim is to bring public focus on glaucoma, which affects people from all walks of life and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in India. The week will begin with a Glaucoma Awareness Walk on March 6 at 8:00 am from Rock Garden to Sukhna Lake.

Every 8th individual or nearly 40 million has either glaucoma or is at the risk of developing the disease and 11.2 million Indians suffer from the disease with 1.1 million blind, including children. Screening family members of patients with glaucoma is mandatory, as this disease can affect siblings and children of patients with glaucoma in up to 10-15 per cent of cases.

Dr Surinder S Pandav, Head, Department of Ophthalmology, PGI stated, “Glaucoma is associated with many risk factors of which the modifiable factor is an increase in eye pressure, and is characterised by damage to the optic nerve leading to irreversible blindness. Most often glaucoma cause silent vision loss as the patient will not be symptomatic till a moderate to an advanced stage.

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