For last so many days there is one news which has caught attention of everyone in the world is ‘Corona Virus ‘ to be more specific COVID 19 virus. This virus has affected most of the countries of the world. Second news which is in the eye of India public for last 2 days is about Jyotiraditya Scindaya’s resignation of from Congress party and joining BJP. I am not writing on these 2 items as enough has been said on them, and most of the news is becoming repetitive. Instead today I am again writing on certain health conditions which generally affect mostly elderly people, but in today’s age it is affecting even younger people.
I am talking about 2 diseases which affect one’s eye and they are Cataract and Glaucoma.
CATARACT
It is a condition which affects the lens of the eye by clouding it and can be treated only by surgery. If not treated it may cause vision loss. The general symptoms are basically a blurred vision, difficulty in reading or glare. In the present days this conditions is considered not very dangerous and can be easily corrected, and cataract surgery is highly evolved one and safe. There is no over night stay in the hospital and within few hours of surgery patient is back home. What is done in the surgery is cloudy lens of the eye is removed by laser surgery and an artificial lens is implanted in the eye. Generally protective dark glass have to be used for 8 to 10 days for keeping eyes protected from dust and other pollutants. Prescribed eye drops to be put in the for week or so.
It is suggested that only a proper certified Opthalmologist or hospital’s services are used for the surgery. Generally your medical records for issues like diabetes or blood pressure will be checked pre surgery. The doctor will also issue pre operative instruction, which need to be followed religiously. You may be asked to report for surgery on empty stomach. Generally the surgery is done under local anaesthesia.
Generally there are no complications post surgery provided doctor’s instructions are followed properly, and go for post operative check ups as told by doctor. For ant problems like inflammation, or high irritation or sense of too much pressure in the eye should be reported to doctor immediately.
Statistics indicate that cataract is responsible for 50-80% of bilateral blindness in the country. Annually around 4 million people in India are diagnosed with cataract and around 10 million in India are blind because of it.
GLAUCOMA
In India, there are around 12 million cases of Glaucoma, which is about 20% 0f the global numbers. Glaucoma is the condition caused by nerve in the eye which connect to brain, and generally it is caused by high eye pressure. This condition is responsible for 33% of blindness worldwide. The damage which happen to optic nerve, can lead to progressive loss of vision and in the end blindness, this damage is unfortunately irreversible. There are many types of Glaucoma, however heredity is the common cause.
Sometimes, there are no symptoms of glaucoma, and generally people are ignorant, and by the time is medical help is sought, the disease has progressed to an extant where nothing much can be done. However, in one form of glaucoma, hazy or blurred vision, pain in eye or headache, nausea, or appearance or rainbow colours around bright light may be seen. It is very important to go for annual eye check ups. If detected early glaucoma can be treated.
The Opthalmologist will decide on the course of treatment, depending on the type of glaucoma, the stage that it is at, the medical history etc. at times medication and other times surgery may be advised. One has to follow the guidelines set by doctor strictly and respect to the medications to ensure that vision is not affected. If advised surgery pre and post surgery advice is usually issued by the doctor, needs to be followed strictly for proper healing benefits. It is not a very complicated process and very common nowadays. In this case each case will be different and there are no common pre and post operative care instructions.
Please do give your views/comments/feed backs on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
12th March 2020.