View from the consulting room

This series of articles follows a talk I gave at 100% Optical in early 2022 and it would not be complete without a discussion of glaucoma.

I will approach this problem from two perspectives. One way is to look from the patient’s viewpoint and focus on managing their concerns about glaucoma. From the other end of the telescope, one can look at the bigger picture in terms of epidemiology and provision of care.

Glaucoma, to many patients, is a disease that tends to instil fear of imminent sight loss. The word itself suggests a serious disease, such as melanoma, carcinoma or lymphoma, where the suffix ‘-oma’ indicates a swelling or growth, but we, as professionals, know that glaucoma is nothing of the sort. Essentially it is an optic neuropathy that has an association with abnormal intraocular pressure. It is insidious and it is well known that the symptoms of glaucoma present at a late stage, by which time treatment can only slow progress rather than reverse it.