Health and Wellness - Worlds Aids Day

Health & Wellness| BROs KEEPER

GLAUCOMA AWARENESS MONTH

Glaucoma is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States. Glaucoma has no early symptoms — that’s why half of people with glaucoma don’t know they have it. Glaucoma has been nicknamed the “sneak thief of sight” because it often goes undetected and causes irreversible damage to the eye. There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of the disease. Many people have glaucoma but are not aware of it, making it a very scary, silent eye disease.

As the disease progresses, vision seems to fluctuate and peripheral vision fails. If left untreated, vision can be reduced to tunnel vision and eventually, total blindness. The only way to find out if you have glaucoma is to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam. There’s no cure for glaucoma, but early treatment can often stop the damage and protect your vision.

Anyone can get glaucoma, but those at higher risk include: • Everyone over age 60, especially African Americans over age 40 • People with a family history of glaucoma

CERVICAL HEALTH AWARENESS

Cervical Health Awareness Month 2022

More than 14,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer each year, but the disease is preventable with vaccination and appropriate screening. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 4,000 women died from the cancer. However, cervical cancer cases and related deaths have dropped significantly in the past 40 years because of lifesaving tests like the Pap smear, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the American Cancer Society, cervical cancer is most frequently diagnosed in women between the ages of 35-44 and rarely in women younger than the age of 20.