January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Animas Surgical Hospital and the ophthalmologists at Four Corners Eye Clinic, and Southwest Eye Clinic encourage people at a higher risk for glaucoma to get a dilated eye exam in the new year.
Glaucoma is an eye disease that can gradually steal sight without warning or symptoms. Once vision is lost, it’s permanent. According to the National Eye Institute, as much as 40% of vision can be lost without a person noticing. Vision loss is caused by damage to the optic nerve, which is responsible for carrying images from the eye to the brain. More than 3 million people in the United States have glaucoma, and it is the leading cause of irreversible blindness.
Although the most common forms primarily affect the middle-aged and the elderly, glaucoma can affect people of all ages. It’s more prevalent among African American and Latino populations.
There is no cure for glaucoma—yet. However, medication or surgery can slow or prevent further vision loss. Early detection is vital to stopping the progress of the disease. The best way to protect your sight from glaucoma is to get a comprehensive eye examination. Then, if you have glaucoma, treatment can begin immediately.
Animas Surgical Hospital is proud to have the region’s only fellowship-trained glaucoma specialists on our medical staff: Joshua Zastrocky, MD, from Four Corners Eye Clinic and Deidre St. Peter, MD, from Southwest Eye Consultants. More information is available at https://www.animassurgical.com/services/eye-surgery.