Vulnerable group to be targeted for World Glaucoma Day

Mar 10, 2017 News

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Glaucoma is a disease that is known to damage the optic nerve. While many are vulnerable to this condition, there are several who are particularly predisposed to it. This is according to information disseminated by Dr. Shailendra Sugrim,

Head of Department and Glaucoma Specialist at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
According to Dr. Sugrim, in Guyanese patients ‘Open Angle’ Glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma and individuals of Afro-Guyanese origin are more prone to develop it. These individuals are more likely to have family members suffering from glaucoma.
‘Open-angle’ means that the angle where the iris meets the cornea is as wide and as open as it should be but the eye’s drainage canals become clogged over time, causing an increase in internal eye pressure and subsequent damage to the optic nerve. ‘Open-angle’ glaucoma is also called primary or chronic glaucoma.
Individuals suffering from this condition are more likely to have family members suffering from glaucoma. It has also been found that glaucoma in Afro-Guyanese patients is usually very severe and more difficult to treat.
But, according to Dr. Sugrim, there are many ways to treat ‘open angle’ glaucoma. He disclosed that over the past years, patients at the hospital have been exposed to the two common methods of treating glaucoma which are medications (eye-drops), laser procedures and glaucoma surgery.
Moreover, as World Glaucoma Day 2017 nears, the GPHC is preparing to offer its screening services to patients who could be vulnerable to glaucoma.
World Glaucoma Week will be observed from March 12, 2017. For the past six years the hospital has been offering an enhanced glaucoma service at the Eye Clinic, according to Dr. Sugrim.
In honour of this week, the hospital will be involved in two activities: a week of Free Glaucoma Screening Sessions and Glaucoma CME Symposium for Health Professionals.
Screening sessions, according to Dr. Sugrim, will be held during the coming week from Tuesday March 14 to Friday March 17, 2017 between the hours of 09:00hrs to 13:00hrs at the GPHC, Eye Clinic. The staff ophthalmologists, he said, will be screening approximately 50 patients per day including: vision testing, eye pressure testing and examination of the eye nerve.
The process usually entails patients arriving at the clinic after which they are required to register with the clerks and then given a slip for the screening process.
Registration, Dr. Sugrim said, will be limited to the daily quotas and eligible individuals for screening will include: all individuals who are 40 years or older; individuals below 40 years who have risk factors including: blood relatives diagnosed with glaucoma, persons of African descent and persons suspected to have glaucoma. However, persons already diagnosed with glaucoma are not eligible for screening.
During the course of the week the hospital will also facilitate a Glaucoma CME Symposium for Health Professionals which will be done in collaboration with Optique Vison Care. Eye care professionals attached to the hospital will also be hosted to a lunch on Sunday March 19, 2017.
This World Glaucoma Week campaign was chosen because of the fact that many people suffer with glaucoma and they still do not know it, Dr. Sugrim noted.
Called “invisible” glaucoma, the disease acts silently by causing damage to the optic nerve (the eye nerve which allows us to see) without the patient having any notable symptoms. Moreover, Dr. Sugrim noted that “bit by bit over the years this damage continues, unknown to the patient, until almost the entire nerve is destroyed.”
“This nerve damage (called glaucomatous optic neuropathy) is permanent and cannot be reversed. Hence, at that time when the patient begins to start experiencing visual symptoms, they would already have had significant nerve damage. Thus, the need for early screening of the disease,” Dr. Surgim related.
He added that once glaucoma is diagnosed early, treatment can be started early, and hence prevent persons from becoming unnecessarily blind. Glaucoma can be controlled with treatment so that patients can enjoy comfortable vision throughout their life.
At the Georgetown Public Hospital, the Department of Ophthalmology offers services for diagnosing and treating Glaucoma. The hospital offers daily eye clinics on weekdays where patients can be given eye examinations for the detection of Glaucoma.
Patients, according to the Eye Specialist, need to be referred to the hospital before they can obtain an appointment for any service. These referrals can be obtained from general physicians.

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