Dr Adjoa Pokuaa Awuku an optometrist at Abesim Health Centre near Sunyani has advised the public to always visit certified eye centres for thorough eye screening by professional eye specialist to prevent the incidence of glaucoma.
She said glaucoma had been the leading cause of blindness in Ghana and had also been identified globally to be the primary cause of preventable blindness.
Dr Awuku gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality of Bono Region, saying glaucoma had no cure but could be managed by screening the eye consistently coupled with persistent use of anti-glaucoma drugs.
“The cause of glaucoma is not clear and is not yet known but the condition runs through families and can cause the reduction of one’s field of view,” she said, adding that people who went through eye surgery might sometimes end up getting glaucoma, which could result to blindness.
Dr Awuku said glaucoma had no symptoms of pain or otherwise, but an eye specialist could diagnose it by checking a patient’s “funduscopy,” eye pressure, angles of the eye and make analysis of the nerve fibre.
She, therefore, emphasised the need for people to go for regular eye screening, advising that one must see an optometrist at least once a year to know the state of one’s eyes to treat any adverse condition that could lead to blindness.
Dr Awuku reiterated the need for the populace to constantly visit a health facility with a professional eye specialist and not to visit quack doctors operating in tents along roadsides to worsen their eye conditions.
She stated it was the eye that controlled the body, saying without the eye it might be impossible for some people to be productive and could not do any activity on their own without assistant, hence, Dr. Awuku stressed the citizenry must take matters of the eye seriously.
In a related interview with the GNA, Dr Martin Opoku, an optometrist at the 3D Eye Care Limited, Sunyani called for more sensitisation programmes nationwide to create awareness about glaucoma for the public to be cautious of its seriousness because it could not be cured but could be managed.
Dr Opoku stated someone suffering from high myopia (shortsightedness) also had the risk of having glaucoma, adding that excessive use of corticosteroids, low sensitivity of nerves fibre, increase in eye pressure and red eyes sometimes could cause glaucoma.
Age at 40 and above, according to Dr Opoku was also a factor about a person’s eye condition, saying people suffering from diabetes and hypertension had higher risk of getting glaucoma and consequently might result to blindness.
GNA
